The claimEvidence A · guideline-tier
Stretching before exercise prevents injury
The evidence
Stretching's effect on sports-injury prevention is small enough to ignore; what cuts injuries by about two-thirds is strength training, not a pre-game stretch.
The mechanism, in brief
'Stretch before exercise so you don't pull something' is probably the most widespread, most deeply held piece of advice in all of fitness. School PE, gyms, sports teams — nearly all treat pre-game stretching as the standard injury-prevention ritual. But when research actually tested it, the answer surprised many:…
Sources (1)
- 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, 41(1), 1-11. Pre-exercise static stretching > 60 s reduces strength ~5% and power ~3%; dynamic stretching is neutral or beneficial.