The Importance of Maintaining A Stretching Routine

Woman stretching

We all know that stretching is an important part of any workout program, but how often do we really follow through and do it. I am currently training for my second marathon and I often fail to do much stretching at the end of my workout. I am also not doing a regular stretching routine on my off training days. As you an tell by my last sentence we typically do not think of stretching as being of equal importance as the rest of our training. This is a huge mistake. I can feel tightness in my muscles, especially in the back of my legs, and I may be setting myself up for a future injury. I’m not sure why we knowingly do things, or in this case don’t do things, that could lead to possible injury and decreased performance. The fact is that if you will just work to increase your flexibility with a good stretching program it will be easier to maintain that level of flexibility in the future.

In a recent trial study (Rancour, J., Holmes, C., & Ciprani D., 2009) they tested 2 groups of subjects. Both subject groups were put on a stretching routine for 4 weeks and both groups significantly improved their hip flexibilty. After 4 weeks however one group did not continue to stretch while the other group did a 2-3 day/week maintenance stretching program.

They found that after another 4 weeks the non stretching group lost much of their flexibility gains.

The 2nd group however that did continue on a reduced 2-3 day/ week stretching routine was able to not only maintain their flexibilty but it actually continued to increase slightly.

The lessons that we can take away from this study is that it confirms our knowledge that regular stretching does lead to increases in flexibility. Even more importantly though is knowing that once you have increased your flexibility with a regular stretching routine you should be able to maintain your gains with a reduced frequency maintenance plan. This is great news since most of us are pressed for time in our daily lives. I personally will be following a good stretching routine for the next month and afterward I’ll follow through by continuing to stretch or participate in yoga 2-3 days/week.

References:

Rancour, J., Holmes, C., & Ciprani D. (2009) The Effects of Intermittent Stretching Following a 4-Week Static Stretching Protocol: A Randomized Trial, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(8)2419-2424

About the Author

Dillon Martin is a fitness professional and certified trainer with the National Strength and Conditioning Association.  He graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Kinesiology.  His passion is creating solutions to help people reach their fitness goals.  You can visit his website at dmfitness.com