For an article being published in next month’s issue of The
British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers at the
University of Sydney in Australia reviewed dozens of recent
studies of stretching, hoping to determine whether the practice
prevents people from getting sore after they exercise. The
authors found 12 studies completed in the past 25 years that
looked directly at that issue. Most were small and short-term.
But each produced essentially the same result, the review
authors write, showing that “stretching does not produce
important reductions in muscle soreness in the days following
exercise.” That does not mean that you shouldn’t stretch, the
study’s authors add, but it does indicate that stretching may
not provide the benefits that many of us expect. Write about
fitness, and you soon learn that stretching is one of the more
contentious and emotional issues among people who exercise.
Those who regularly stretch tend to assume that the practice
will prevent soreness and injury. Those who do not stret