How important is it to stretch before engaging in sports?

IT is important to stretch before sports or any sort of activity IF the type of stretching you are doing is appropriate.

Firstly, current research has shown that stretching done prior to exercise should be dynamic and not static. So the stretching, or more specifically the warm up, should include range of movement exercises that allow the muscles of the body to be moved through their range. This also helps blood flow to the areas of the body that are required to be used in the subsequent exercise.

That leads to the next point which is the warm up should be specific to the exercise or sport that you are about to engage in. Ie. there is not a whole lot of point getting your arms moving and warmed up before a cycling race! Another example of this specificity is if you are about to play football, a good dynamic exercise would be one that involves repetitive bending and straightnening of the knee in a kicking motion (10+reps each leg).

This is the best way to reduce the risk of injury in the sport you play!
There are plenty of peer-reviewed scientific articles out there that identify the benefits of a dynamic warmup before exercise. It is this research that sports coaches base their athlete's warm-ups on these days.

Goodluck…

I agree with Jarrod and like his initial comment that it depends on the type of activity you are engaging in to determine the best type of stretching to do.  This is often overlooked.

As a Chiropractor my suggestion is that as a basic start aim to have good joint mobility before you start stretching.  This could include some gentle motion to rotate the knees, lower back, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hip joints.  The aim is to increase blood and nerve flow.

Many people seem to ask questions about stretching when warming up because of a fear of injuries and this is valid.  If this is your underlying concern then I suggest you look at working with an Exercise Physiologist even for just a few personalised sessions to make sure you get it right for your own circumstances.  If you are experiencing pain, injuring yourself, noticing you are uneven when you stand square on in a mirror or worried about how far you can push yourself without injury I would suggest seeing a Chiropractor for an assessment.

All the best.
Dr Michael Cohen, Chiropractor

Hi there,

Stretching is an important part of the preparation for all sports, but as Jarrod said, it is actually a dynamic sports specific warm up that includes dynamic stretches which is important.  There is some evidence to demonstate that prolonged static stretches prior to exercise actually increases the risk of injury.  There is also some evidence to show that doing a dynamic sports specific warm up after static stretches negates the negative effect for static stretches.  So the take home message is to do a dynamic sports specfic warm up prior to sport and avoid static stretches immediately prior to sport.  

I hope that helps,

Loretta

I concur with all of the information submitted by other contributors. I often follow the formula below as a pre-competion warm up for athletes:

1. general warm up (lower intensity activity of an aerobic nature that is quite general)
   
2. general stretch (dynamic movements for all major muscle groups)
   
3. specific warm up (activities that utilise the energy system/s & movement patterns required in the competition)
   
4. specific stretch (dynamic & ballistic movements that taregt the muscle groups about to be used in competition).
   

However on ocassion I will prescibe a static stretch or two pre-activity for those athletes who have a specific restriction that needs to be ‘loosened’ in order for them to compete effectively. For example, those with hypertonic hip flexors which will in turn affect stride length.

In instances like this I think it's important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak.

Regrds,

Brad

Most recently there has been a body of evidence that suggests that static stretching, that is the old stretch and hold, may not be as beneficial in preventing injuries during exercise. Some have even shown a decrease in performance, particularly in explosive exercises such as sprinting and jumping based sports and an increase in energy expenditure on endurance athletes.

The preferred method of warming up these days is dynamic stretching, that is stretching that involves moving. More specifically, moving the body part that you are intending to exercise with the specific goal to increase blood flow, activate neurological pathways and increase the elastic potential of the muscles and tissues that are about to undergo activity. For example, a tennis player would go through a few arm swinging movements that mimic certain shots or strokes they would perform during a match.

There are times which I would recommend stretching, in some cases you can clearly see that someone is less flexible and hence asymetrical through their body. I would suggest specific stretches to help address these imbalances especially if one side of the body is more rigid/inflexible compared to the other side. The idea is to encourage balance and symmetry in the way your body moves, therefore reduce premature wear and tear on one side more than the other.