The Study: Acute effect of passive static stretching on lower-body strength in moderately trained men.
The Facts:
- The author wanted to study the short term effect of static stretching on lower body strength.
- Participants were all male, age 18-24 years, with a “moderate” level of fitness.
- Two distinctly different supervised warm-up routines were tested on each individual.
a) active/ dynamic warm-up (AD) using exercise in the form of free weights and/or resistance machines.
OR
b) Passive static stretching (PSS) PLUS active/dynamic warm-up as above.
- Following the warm-up, participants were tested to determine their maximum lift for a single repetition of a barbell squat.
- Subjects were also asked to evaluate their own sense of “stability”.
- Participants who used passive static stretching showed a decrease of 8.36% in their maximum lift compared to those who performed an active/dynamic warm-up/
- Additionally, participants who warmed up using passive stretching reported a reduction of 22.68% in perceived lower body stability compared to those who warmed up with active exercise.
Results: Despite traditional advice to the contrary, this study indicates that athletes engaged in activities which require explosive power and strength would be well advised to avoid stretching activities prior to competition.
Take Home: The results of this study are in keeping with another study, a meta analysis published this year which reviewed over a hundred studies in which the authors concluded that the use of static stretching during warm-up routines should be avoided.
Reviewer: Mark R Payne DC
Reference: Gergley JC. Acute effect of passive static stretching on lower-body strength in moderately trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2013 Apr;27(4):973-7. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318260b7ce.
Link to Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22692125