Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Exercise Physiology
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Many individuals incorporate stretching into their routines to prevent injuries, reduce post-exercise soreness, or improve athletic performance.
• This review is an updated analysis of previous research on the efficacy of stretching, first published in 2007.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of pre-exercise and post-exercise stretching on the development of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials.
• Searched multiple databases including Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and PEDro up to February 2010.
• Assessed risk of bias and quality of evidence using GRADE; pooled outcome data using fixed-effect meta-analyses.

Main Results:

• Twelve studies were included, with evidence quality ranging from low to moderate and a moderate to high risk of bias.
• Pre-exercise stretching showed a small, non-significant reduction in DOMS (-0.52 on a 100-point scale).
• Post-exercise stretching also demonstrated a small, non-significant reduction in DOMS (-1.04 on a 100-point scale).
• A large study indicated a statistically significant but clinically unimportant reduction in peak soreness over a week with combined pre- and post-exercise stretching (-3.80).

Conclusions:

• Current evidence from randomized studies indicates that stretching before, after, or both before and after exercise does not yield clinically meaningful reductions in delayed-onset muscle soreness in healthy adults.
• The observed effects of stretching on DOMS are minimal and may not justify its routine use solely for soreness reduction.