Most runners, whether they're training for a marathon or simply out to get some exercise, will stretch before they take off. It's a ritual that verges on the sacred, strongly connected to the intuitive sense that priming the muscles is a good way to avoid injuring them during the run to come.
But researchers at George Washington University and the USA Track and Field Association (USATF) report that stretching before a run does not appear to reduce injury at all. In fact, among the more than 2,700 runners in the study, ranging from recreational runners to competitive marathoners, all of whom ran at least 10 miles a week, the scientists found similar injury rates — of about 16% — over a three-month period among those who stretched before running and those who did not.
The idea behind stretching is to lengthen the muscle fibers to increase their function and hopefully enhance performance, helping runners maintain a faster pace or run for a longer period of time. A study of British recruits in the military found that a regular stretching routine before training reduced injury rates from 6% to 1%. But other recent studies among gymnasts, football players and wrestlers have questioned the practice, suggesting that stretching does not impact performance at all.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/18/skip-the-stretch-before-running-%e2%80%94-it-doesnt-prevent-injuries/#ixzz1RJTaDCcR
