Running Cramps & Muscle Cramps –
Does Stretching Before Exercise Really Help?
By Paul Newland
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to training and exercise, sometimes I used to be too impatient to do a stretching routine before I went for a run – after all, I felt good and I only had so much time to train and I didn’t want to waste it by stretching before the muscles are warmed up.
As you get a little older and get a few injuries, however, you start to ‘listen’ to your body a little better and find yourself starting to stretch more and more before you train.
But does stretching before a run help prevent injury?
A 1996 study by a team of South African scientists actually suggest 15 minutes of stretching before competition, with emphasis on the problem area.
Now while many people may stretch before competition, most wouldn’t stretch for 15 minutes.
I’d have to qualify this by saying that you should do this once the muscles are warming up or as part of a warm-up routine. Still, 15 minutes is a lot of time.
In contrast, in one of the only randomised control studies, which was performed in Australia on Army Recruits in 1998 they found that stretching before exercise did not significantly reduce the injury rate but did help recruits ‘unkink’ tight calves.
So here you have 2 studies that seem to conflict and the next step was to dig through the available studies on subject. The results are broadly summarised below with the conclusion being that the main merits of stretching lie in relation to injury reduction; here’s what I found:
• long term stretching is more beneficial
• you should stretch opposing muscles (i.e. stretch the quadriceps as well as the hamstring)
• strength training in conjunction with stretching does reduce injury rate
• stretch only after muscles have warmed up – a period of at least 10 minutes is generally recommended
• there are no negative benefits associated with stretching pre-exercise, however there are more benefits in terms of injury-prevention by stretching after exercise
The advice me and my team give to people is to incorporate a pre-exercise flexibility AND stretching into your program before and after exercise, with the emphasis on ‘after’.
In my case, I tend to do more stretching prior to events that require more flexibility – for me it’s martial arts. I do find that the more time I spend on this before a routine does reduce the likelihood of injury.
For running training, we advise people to spend 5 minutes walking to the start point and another 7 - 10 minutes performing flexibility (yoga) and stretching exercises. The yoga routines I find help get the muscles warm and more receptive to stretching . . . so the advice is to combine them.
As a final thought, don’t over-focus on any problem areas at the expense of the uninjured side. In other words, stretch and do flexibility exercises on both sides as equally as possible.
The Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide contains detailed video techniques and information on exactly how you should self massage for muscle cramp relief and prevention.
