Dr. Jenson Mak discusses whether or not you should stretch cold muscles.

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Should You Stretch Cold
Muscles?
by Jenson Mak | Dec 15, 2021 | Dr. Jenson Mak, Healthy Ageing, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds,
Vitality
People who enjoy active lifestyles have likely heard it said that stretching before
lifting weights, running, or doing yoga can help maximize performance and
minimize injuries. Is this true, though? As it turns out, research indicates that
stretching cold muscles could have a negative effect on the body. This brief article
will outline the issues with stretching in one way and propose a helpful alternative.
What Is A Cold Muscle?
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First, what does it mean to stretch cold muscles? Professional stretcher Rachel
Lapidos explains that “cold” in this context is simply used to describe muscles that
are not currently being used. Because the human body sends more blood and
heat to areas that are being exercised, inactive muscles are literally cooler in
temperature than active ones.
What Does The Research Say?
Lapidos explains recent research showing why stretching cold muscles could be a
bad idea. When a person does a stretch to target a particular muscle group before
a workout, that group has what is called a stretch reflex. This reflex serves an
important role, preventing the muscle from overstretching and causing damage.
Unfortunately, this reflex also causes the targeted area to contract. Exercising on
tight, contracted muscles can lead to injury.
Research from the National Strength and Conditioning Association confirms that
“static stretching can have detrimental effects on subsequent performance.” The
study gives several examples of performance dips experienced by professional
athletes after using traditional pre-event stretching. While research in this field is
growing, the results seem clear: stretching cold muscles is an not effective means
of improving performance and reducing injuries.
Conclusion
Should people simply not warm up before exercise, then? Not at all, says Lapidos.
Instead of neglecting pre-workout muscle conditioning entirely, it is best to focus
on warming up the whole body, gradually working up to the session. This kind of
warm-up consists of dynamic movements that are designed to increase blood flow
throughout your body. Dynamic movements include activities such as walking at a
quick pace, jumping lightly in place, or shadowboxing. Doing these or similar
actions increases warmth in the muscles and avoids the stretch reflex mentioned
earlier in this article.
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© Dr. Jenson Mak 2021
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