Stretch the Truth

Apparently, stretching before a workout may actually do more harm than good. Why? According to a recent article in the science section of U.S. News (link here): "One explanation is that stretching muscle fibers makes them less stable and less able to resist the jarring impact of running or jumping. Stretching may hinder performance because a stretched muscle can't produce the same kind of force as an unstretched one. And as muscle fibers lengthen, it takes longer for the brain's messages to tell the muscles to move. Rather than stretching, Blahnik and other experts encourage people to warm up by jogging slowly, lightly swinging a golf club, or doing whatever else they need to do to achieve the range of motion required for their activity. Strengthening and conditioning exercises are also helpful... because fatigue and muscle weakness cause most injuries. The only reason stretching feels so good... is that it results in tiny tears in the muscle fibers. The body then releases hormones that mask the pain." This is music to my ears. I have always hated warm up stretches before running or before a game of tennis. All my life, it had been drilled into me that stretching is absolutely necessary to prevent injury. This is just one more example of conventional wisdom being turned on its head.