How long should athletes with high range of motion demands stretch? Acute stretching durations for flexibility and...

Stretching is a common practice among athletes in sports requiring high flexibility, but the optimal duration and type of stretching to enhance performance while minimizing potential drawbacks remains unclear.

This systematic review aims to evaluate the acute effects of different stretching durations and techniques-specifically static, dynamic, and combined methods-on flexibility and performance in athletes engaged in flexibility-dependent sports.

Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus was conducted up to March 2026. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 627 athletes from sports such as gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, dance, and track and field. Data were synthesized using thematic analysis and percentage-weighted mean changes with 95% confidence intervals, comparing pre- to post-intervention outcomes or intervention groups to controls (depending on study design). Moderating variables such as stretching type and duration were also considered.

Static stretching produced moderate improvements in flexibility from pre- to post-intervention (2.97%) and a moderate improvement when compared to control (2.36%), but was associated with small negative performance effects pre to post (-0.88%) and trivial declines compared to control (-0.07%). Dynamic stretching showed small flexibility gains (0.77%) compared to control, and small improvements in performance (0.55%). Combined protocols resulted in small positive effects on both flexibility (1.65%) and performance (0.60%). PNF interventions produced a small positive effect on performance (1.04%) when compared to control conditions. Regarding duration, short-duration stretching (≤60 s) led to a small flexibility improvement compared to control (0.79%), with trivial performance gains pre to post (0.06%) and compared to control (0.48%). Long-duration stretching (>60 s) yielded large flexibility improvements pre to post (6.21%) and a small improvement compared to control (1.89%), but small performance declines pre to post (-1.80%) and trivial effects relative to control (-0.02%). However, the majority of included studies were rated as low quality (15/23), and findings should be interpreted with caution.

Stretching duration affects flexibility and performance. Long static stretching boosts flexibility but slightly reduces performance, while dynamic stretching enhances readiness with minimal flexibility gains. Protocols should match sport-specific demands and session goals.

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/, identfier CRD42025635493.