Study: Stretching Doesn’t Prevent Injuries

Stretching before you run doesn’t cause or prevent injury, new research finds. But don’t change what you’re doing now. That just might hurt you, the study also suggests. The study included more than 2,000 runners. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group stretched leg muscles for 3 to 5 minutes before running. The other group didn’t stretch. The study lasted 3 months. About 1,400 people completed it. About 16% of the runners got hurt badly enough to miss at least a week of running. Rates of injury were about the same for the stretch and no-stretch groups. But people who changed what they normally did for purposes of the study were more likely to get hurt. Former stretchers who stopped stretching for the study had a 40% increased risk of injury. Risk rose 22% for those who did not stretch before but were assigned to the stretching group.