Stretching the truth: MUN research sheds new light on best warm-up routines for athletes

Researchers at Memorial University have taken a second look at old data and come to a new conclusion about the best way to stretch your muscles. The good news for occasional athletes is it's okay to touch your toes again.

"Previous literature said static stretching is bad for you. That it causes performance decrements, or impairments," said David Behm, research professor at Memorial University in St. John's.

Nobody does 30 minutes of stretching your hamstrings.- DavidBehm, Memorial Universityresearch professor

Static stretches for example touching your toes and holding that position are performed with little or no motion. They were part of warm-up routines for generations. Thenresearch revealed static stretching wasn't such a great idea after all. Competitive athletes switched over to dynamic stretching the kind you do while moving years ago.

Behm told CBC Radio'sSt. John's Morning Show his new research confirms some aspectsof the old theory. He said prolonged static stretchesdecrease an athlete's strength by five per cent ormore.

"Your ability to jump, your balance, reaction time, movement time.All these things would be affected," he said.

Behmwas part of an international team with contributors in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. They conducted meta-analysis on information gleaned from more than 250 existing studies.It also allowed them to identify one big problem with previous research.

"In some of the reports, they did stretching of 20 minutes and 30 minutes for one muscle group," he said. "Nobody does 30 minutes of stretching your hamstrings."

When they looked further, Behmand his team decided that static stretching didn't deserve all the bad press. In fact, toe-touches and similar exercises were actually beneficial as long as the stretch didn't last longer than a minute.

"If you do less than 60 seconds of stretching per muscle group, impairments aren't likely."

Behmsaid his advice now is for each individual to conduct their own cost-benefit analysis. And unless the stakes are high, it's easy to come to the right conclusion.

"So what's more important to me? To have a 95km/hr [tennis]serve versus a100 km/hr serve? Or that I'm not injured so I can play tennis the next day or the day afterwards?"

Behmis an avid tennis player. He's also close to 60 years old.

"If I'm Milos Raonic, that 5 per cent is going to be a difference between beating Andy Murray and not beating Andy Murray. But for me it means almost nothing."

Behmsaid the best way to warm-up for active sports is to use a four-part routine:

• Start with five minutes of aerobic activity such as running, jumping, skating, etc.
• Follow that with static stretches no more than 60 seconds per muscle group.
• Follow withfive minutes of dynamic stretches. He recommendskicking out your legs and swinging your arms.
• Spend the last five minutes "exciting" your system with activity directly related to the sport. He suggestsswinging a tennis racket, shooting a puckor kicking a ball.