Is it true that … stretching before exercise prevents injury? | Fitness

It depends on the type of stretching you’re doing, says Dr Alex Dinsdale, lecturer in biomechanics of sport and exercise at Leeds Beckett University.

He says injuries happen for all sorts of reasons, from bad shoes to fatigue. Two key factors are not having the required range of motion or not being strong enough to control that movement. “You might go for a run and raise your knees higher than your hamstrings can handle,” he says. Or, you may not have the muscle strength to move a limb at high speed.

When people talk about stretching, they’re usually talking about static stretching: holding a pose for six seconds or more to elastically deform the muscle. “Static stretching can increase your range of motion, but it also decreases the force a muscle can apply by about 5 percent,” says Dinsdale. Dynamic stretching (moving through a stretch while performing exercises such as bodyweight squats or walking lunges) has more balanced benefits. “It doesn’t increase the range of motion as much, but it can increase the muscle’s ability to produce force.”

For most of us, the best pre-exercise routine is a warm-up involving light movements similar to those of the upcoming workout, such as a brisk walk before a jog. “Increasing the temperature of your muscles helps them produce force more efficiently and you also gain a little more range of motion,” says Dinsdale. After that, a few dynamic stretches can guide your body through the movements you are about to perform. Finally, he recommends powerful movements to prime the neuromuscular system – “a few jumps, or a short, brisk sprint.”

More important than warm-ups is what he calls “assistance training”: dedicated sessions of strength training and static stretching, at an alternative time to your chosen exercise, to build strength and flexibility in the muscles you rely on for your activity.