ShopThe Effects of Stretching You Didn’t Know About
With all the benefits stretching provides it’s surprising that limbering up has only recently become the subject of scientific research.
Many studies that have been done show performing a static stretch (stretching a muscle or muscle group as far as it can go and holding the position for longer than 60 seconds) without warm-up exercises can increase muscle strength and the targeted joint’s range of motion. 1)2)3)4)
Not much attention has been given to the additional effects of static stretching. More than likely, the subject hasn’t been widely researched because it seems it won’t yield meaningful results.
However, a 2021 study titled “Non-local acute stretching effects on strength performance in healthy young adults” (Behm, D. G., Alizadeh, S., Drury, B., Granacher, U., & Moran, J.) was carried out to find out how static stretching affects the opposite side of the body and areas that weren’t stretched.
The study revealed that static stretching affects the stretched muscles and the muscles and joints on the opposite side of the body. The study’s conclusion is consistent with studies that found static stretching increased mobility beyond the stretched body parts. 5)6)7)8)9)
Shining a Brighter Light on the Side Effects of Static Stretching
The discoveries the authors of the previously mentioned study made during a literature review prove that researching the side effects of static stretching may be worthwhile.
The authors reviewed studies that were mainly focused on how stretching affected the performance of the musculoskeletal system. These studies aimed to find out what conditions would maximise physical performance. Most of the participants were healthy young adults.
One of the team’s discoveries is of interest to athletes and those who play competitive sports:
After static stretching, the targeted muscle’s performance, strength, and endurance decreased slightly, but the change made a difference.
(Athletes who want to achieve peak performance during competition and those who play competitive sports may want to avoid static stretching beforehand.)
The Reach of Static Stretching
The research team made another discovery: prolonged static stretching positively affects the stretched body parts’ range of motion and mobility 10)11)12)13) and areas of the body not directly targeted by the stretch.14)
The researchers assume that this is partly because of the myofascial system.
The myofascial system is made up of muscles and connective tissue. 15) The connective tissue is called fascia; it runs throughout the body, enclosing our muscles, organs, bones, and blood vessels. Fascia passes through the muscles and bones and guides nerves, transmitting movement from the muscles to the bones. 16)
Because the fascia is an interconnected network running from head to toe, one body part can transmit movement to another, even if it’s far away. A study showed that head and neck mobility improved after the hamstrings 17) or calf muscles 18) were stretched.
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How Static Stretching Can Benefit People Suffering from Musculoskeletal Disorders
Static stretching could be used to help the healing process of immobilised joints. If a cast, splint, or brace has been applied to a body part, joint mobility decreases. The study results show that stretching the opposite body part increases the immobilised joints’ range of motion.
The results of another study showed that stretching hip flexor muscles on one side of the body increased the range of motion by 6.3%. The range of motion of the hip flexors that were not stretched increased by 5.7% 19) — almost as much as the stretched flexors.
Static stretching could also be beneficial for people who have musculoskeletal disorders, which include (but are not limited to):
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Back or neck pain
- Tendonitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Degenerative disc disease
Insights for Athletes. Support for Musculoskeletal Disorders. A New Frontier for Research?
The authors of this study made surprising discoveries about the effects of static stretching, which are beneficial for both athletes and people rehabilitating musculoskeletal disorders.
Their findings show that more research into how static stretching affects areas of the body that aren’t targeted by the stretch is worthwhile.
Further research could improve athletic training and rehabilitation programs for those who have musculoskeletal disorders.
Sources & Studies
- ↑1 Behm, D. G., & Chaouachi, A. (2011). A review of the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching on performance. European journal of applied physiology, 111(11), 2633–2651.
- ↑2 Behm, D. G., Blazevich, A. J., Kay, A. D., & McHugh, M. (2016). Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion, and injury incidence in healthy active individuals: a systematic review. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme, 41(1), 1–11.
- ↑3 Behm, D. G., Kay, A. D., Trajano, G. S., & Blazevich, A. J. (2021). Mechanisms underlying performance impairments following prolonged static stretching without a comprehensive warm-up. European journal of applied physiology, 121(1), 67–94.
- ↑4 Kay, A. D., & Blazevich, A. J. (2012). Effect of acute static stretch on maximal muscle performance: a systematic review. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 44(1), 154–164.
- ↑5,↑10 Behm, D. G., Cavanaugh, T., Quigley, P., Reid, J. C., Nardi, P. S., & Marchetti, P. H. (2016). Acute bouts of upper and lower body static and dynamic stretching increase non-local joint range of motion. European journal of applied physiology, 116(1).
- ↑6,↑11 Behm, D. G., Lau R. J., O’Leary J. J., Rainer M. C. P., Burton E. A., Lavers L. (2019). Acute effects of unilateral self-administered static stretching on contralateral limb performance. Journal of Performance Health Research 3 (1).
- ↑7,↑12 Caldwell, S. L., Bilodeau, R. L. S., Cox, M. J., Peddle, D., Cavanaugh, T., Young, J. D., & Behm, D. G. (2019). Unilateral hamstrings static stretching can impair the affected and contralateral knee extension force but improve unilateral drop jump height. European journal of applied physiology, 119(9), 1943–1949.
- ↑8,↑13 Caldwell, S. L., Bilodeau, R. L. S., Cox, M. J., & Behm, D. G. (2019). Cross Education Training Effects are Evident with Twice Daily, Self-Administered Band Stretch Training. Journal of sports science & medicine, 18(3), 544–551.
- ↑9,↑17 Wilke, J., Vogt, L., Niederer, D., & Banzer, W. (2017). Is remote stretching based on myofascial chains as effective as local exercise? A randomised-controlled trial. Journal of sports sciences, 35(20), 2021–2027.
- ↑14,↑19 Chaouachi, A., Padulo, J., Kasmi, S., Othmen, A. B., Chatra, M., & Behm, D. G. (2017). Unilateral static and dynamic hamstrings stretching increases contralateral hip flexion range of motion. Clinical physiology and functional imaging, 37(1), 23–29.
- ↑15,↑16 Bordoni B, Sugumar K, Varacallo M. Myofascial Pain. 2023 Aug 4. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan–. PMID: 30570965.
- ↑18 Wilke, J., Niederer, D., Vogt, L., & Banzer, W. (2016). Remote effects of lower limb stretching: preliminary evidence for myofascial connectivity?. Journal of sports sciences, 34(22), 2145–2148.
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