Stretching before a workout is considered a must to properly warm up the muscles and joints, but the question here is what type of stretching should be performed before a resistance training workout? There are 3 types of stretching techniques: static, active, and dynamic. As the name suggests, static stretching is the process of passively taking a muscle to the point of tension and holding the stretch for 10-30 seconds. It does not involve joint movement, whereas active and dynamic stretching involves a joint range of motion. In this blog, I will only talk about static stretching and some controversies.
Some researchers have suggested that static stretching performed immediately before a workout may decrease muscular strength and power. Research on this topic is still in its developing stage. Still, there is mounting scientific evidence that static stretching decreases strength and power if performed immediately before a resistance training workout, and its effect can last up to 10 minutes. However, some research studies suggest that a periodized stretching program ( Performed after a workout) may increase vertical jump, power, and balance over time. And more surprisingly, static stretching before a workout is not proven to prevent any injury and reduce muscle soreness felt after a workout. The most likely reason why static stretching decreases power and strength is that holding a stretch for a particular period, commonly 30 seconds tires out the muscles.
In 2017, a study was conducted on participants who performed unilateral knee extension ( 4 sets to failure, twice per week for 10 weeks). Every participant performed leg extension on one leg without prior stretching, and on another leg, they did the same exercise after performing intense static stretching before the first set. The researcher found that strength gains were similar between conditions. Still, there was a greater increase in vastus lateralis cross-sectional area in the non-stretching leg. in simple terms, the non-stretching leg gained more muscle than the stretching leg because participants performed seven more reps on average on their non-stretching leg.
“Performing static stretching before weight training could also result in feeling weaker and less stable during training,” according to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. This study also found that static stretching, followed by a dynamic warm-up, resulted in poor performance, especially lower-body resistance training workouts. However, research is minimal on whether clients with known motion limitations react similarly to static stretching.
There is some evidence that static stretching after exercise is beneficial as it may reduce injury. It is always better to do these stretches when our muscles are warm-up and pliable. This could be during a yoga class or right after exercising. Post-exercise stretching also helps slow our breathing and bring our body to a resting state.
What many people do to warm up for a resistance training workout is rather pointless. They spend 10-20 minutes on the treadmill, followed by stretching, resistance bands, jumping, bending, twisting, and so forth. Interestingly, most research studies that recommend warm-up before a workout to raise our muscle tissues’ temperature to make them less injury-prone were done on rabbits. These research studies found that “when rabbits’ muscles and joints are warm, they are less prone to injury.” We can not apply these studies to humans. It is still unclear whether “warming up our muscles before loading it actually makes it more injury resistant.” It does not mean you should not do a warm-up before a workout, but you don’t need to spend much time on it.
Indeed, warm-up may not help prevent an acute injury, but it can help prevent injury on the whole. It does so by improving our lifting technique. To clarify, that warm-up here does not mean running on a treadmill or jumping. It means performing a warm-up set with a light load or even body weight before your hard set. For example, performing one or two sets of bench presses with an empty bar before your hard set.
Performing warm-up sets increase blood flow to the muscles you are going to work out during that session. Let’s say it is your leg day, and you will do squats, leg presses, and hamstring curls in that session. I recommend you perform at least 2 warm-up sets before your actual hard set. It could be bodyweight, empty bar, or with a light load. For the next exercise, the leg press, you don’t need to perform any warm-up set because the major muscle groups involved are the same as the squats and are already warmed up. The same goes for the hamstring curl.
You should avoid static stretching before a resistance training workout, as it can hinder your performance during that session. However, for people with severe motion limitations, static stretching may help regardless of its timing. Active and dynamic stretches are far better than static during the warm-up before a workout. Static stretching can be done either after a workout or on separate days. Performing 2-3 warm-up sets before hard sets are recommended. The biggest takeaway is that any stretching you do pre-training should not be intense enough or take place close enough to your working sets to negatively affect performance.
Matthews, M. (2018). Bigger Leaner Stronger. Oculus Publishers.
AJ, F., BJ, G., & PA, C. (2006). Does warming up prevent injury in sport? J Sci Med Sport, 214-220
Clark, Lucett, McGill, Montel, & Sutton. (2018). NASM essentials of personal training.Arizona: Cathy L. Esperti.
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