The next time your gym instructor tells you to do some stretching exercises before starting the workout, pass on him the message: Its a waste of time.
Going by the results of a new Australian study, which took in almost 2,400 people across the globe, the benefits of stretching muscles before a workout is debatable, reports News.com.au. But Dr Rob Herbert says it has tilted the needle only slightly in favour of stretching.
“Two previous randomised trials on the effect of stretching on injury risk showed no effect, and a series of very small laboratory trials also showed no effect,” Dr Herbert, a senior research fellow at Sydney’s George Institute for International Health, said.
To reach the conclusion, study participants were split into two groups with one assigned to do seven minutes of stretching both before and after their exercise. The other group undertook their exercise regime of running or cycling without any stretching, three or four times a week over three months. After the activities were done, Herbert said stretching was shown to reduce risk of muscle, ligament and tendon injuries equivalent to preventing one injury in about every five years. Only one in thirteen people reported stretching reduced muscle soreness.