Stretching: Worth it or a Waste of time?

If you have read any of our previous blogs you can probably guess the initial answer is going to be “it depends”. And that is because of your personal “why” and your “what”. Why are you stretching? What are you wanting to gain, if anything, from stretching? Your “why” and your “what” can also be described as your outcomes of interest. For stretching your outcomes of interest might be to increase your flexibility, to prevent injury, to warm up or cool down, to improve your sporting performance, to reduce muscle stiffness, or because you just like how it feels.

Static stretching is what most people are referring to when they mention stretching but did you know that there is more than one way to stretch? The most common types of stretching are static, dynamic, ballistic and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF):

• Static stretching is when a targeted muscle group is extended or stretched to its maximum point and that position is then held for a period time [1].
• Dynamic stretching is continuous movement through range that often mimics an activity or sport [1].
• Ballistic stretching is when you go to the end of your range and repeatedly bounce in that end of range position [2].
• PNF requires a second person and involves a mixture of techniques that combine passive stretching alongside holding and resisting against the force from a second person and then relaxing [3].

Overall, stretching has been shown to increase flexibility and joint range of motion, and reduce muscle stiffness, so if any of those were your outcome of interest then stretching is definitely worth your time [4] [5].

And what about injury prevention?

There is mixed evidence on whether stretching can prevent injuries. A 2015 systematic review reported that static and PNF stretching showed “no overall effect on all-cause injury or overuse injuries, but there may be a benefit in reducing acute muscle injuries with running, sprinting, or other repetitive contractions” [6]. So, stretching on its own is not enough to prevent injuries but there may be some benefit to stretching prior to participating in a sport or activity such as running to reduce a muscle strain injury.

One theory behind stretching and prevention of muscle strain injuries is that stretching would make the muscle more compliant which would allow for greater force production in a lengthened position [7]. However, in sports where there is a high incidence of hamstring muscle strain injuries, such as rugby and football, a 2011 systematic review and meta-analysis reported that reduced hamstring flexibility was not a risk factor for muscle strain injuries. They found that risk factors included a previous hamstring injury, increasing age and increased maximum strength of quadriceps [8]. From these findings, we can infer that stretching to increase our flexibility, such as stretching the hamstrings, will not prevent a hamstring muscle strain injury, however, according to the 2015 systematic review mentioned above, there may be some benefit to stretching and the prevention of other muscle strain injuries.

So overall, stretching for injury prevention isn’t entirely worth it, but it’s also not entirely a waste of time, particularly for muscle strain injuries that don’t include the hamstrings, so it’s down to personal preference.

Can stretching affect sporting performance?

Let’s use running as our example and start with sprinters. Evidence has shown that sprinting performance can decrease by 3% at 40m if athletes participated in static stretching prior [9]. Now 3% might not sound like a lot, but for high level athletes who are separated by such fine margins every percentage counts so this is useful information for them to know.

And does dynamic stretching also have a negative impact on sprinting performance? No, actually it’s the opposite. One study found an increase in maximal power following a dynamic warm up, which infers that this could increase sporting performance [10]. Other studies have found that dynamic warm ups can be an effective measure to increase sport specific skills such as sprinting [9].

So based on this evidence, it is reasonable to suggest that static stretching is a waste of time for high level sprinters prior to a race to avoid negatively affecting their performance. It is also reasonable to suggest that it is worth it for high level and any sprinter to performer a dynamic warm up prior to a race due to the performance benefits.

And what about endurance runners’ performance? Evidence reports that static stretching has either no effect or no negative affect on endurance performance but also has no performance benefit either [11]. So static stretching prior to a longer run (>200m) is not harmful nor beneficial to performance, so is neither worth it nor a waste of time and is up to each individual runners’ personal preference.

So, if your outcome of interest was…

• To increase your flexibility and joint range of motion then static stretching is definitely worth it.
• To reduce muscle stiffness, then either static, ballistic or PNF stretching is worth it.
• To prevent injury – for all-cause and overuse injuries stretching is not really worth it, so could be described as a waste of time. However, there may be some benefit to prevent muscle injuries (excluding the hamstrings).
• To improve sporting performance – for sprinters static stretching prior to a race is a waste of time but dynamic stretching is worth it. For endurance runners stretching is neither worth it or a waste of time.

Overall, stretching isn’t harmful and if it feels good it is safe to do! If you have goals to increase your flexibility and are not sure where to start or if you would like further information or support regarding stretching, then do come and see one of our specialist musculoskeletal Physiotherapists who will be able to help you achieve those goals!

References

1             Iwata M, Yamamoto A, Matsuo S, et al. Dynamic Stretching Has Sustained Effects on Range of Motion and Passive Stiffness of the Hamstring Muscles. J Sports Sci Med. 2019;18:13–20.

2             Mahieu NN, McNair P, De Muynck M, et al. Effect of static and ballistic stretching on the muscle-tendon tissue properties. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:494–501. doi: 10.1249/01.mss.0000247004.40212.f7

3             Hindle KB, Whitcomb TJ, Briggs WO, et al. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): Its Mechanisms and Effects on Range of Motion and Muscular Function. J Hum Kinet. 2012;31:105–13. doi: 10.2478/v10078-012-0011-y

4             Ingram LA, Tomkinson GR, d’Unienville NMA, et al. Optimising the Dose of Static Stretching to Improve Flexibility: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis and Multivariate Meta-regression. Sports Med. 2025;55:597–617. doi: 10.1007/s40279-024-02143-9

5             Konrad A, Stafilidis S, Tilp M. Effects of acute static, ballistic, and PNF stretching exercise on the muscle and tendon tissue properties. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 2017;27:1070–80. doi: 10.1111/sms.12725

6             Behm DG, Blazevich AJ, Kay AD, et al. Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion, and injury incidence in healthy active individuals: a systematic review. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016;41:1–11. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2015-0235

7             What Stretching DOES And DOES NOT Do — Physio Network. https://www.physio-network.com/blog/what-stretching-does-and-does-not-do/ (accessed 10 July 2025)

8             Risk factors for hamstring muscle strain injury in sport: a systematic review and meta-analysis | British Journal of Sports Medicine. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/6/351 (accessed 10 July 2025)

9             Winchester JB, Nelson AG, Landin D, et al. Static Stretching Impairs Sprint Performance in Collegiate Track and Field Athletes. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2008;22:13. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31815ef202

10           (PDF) The effect of an active warm-up on surface EMG and muscle performance in healthy humans. ResearchGate. doi: 10.1007/s00421-003-0798-2

11           Peck E, Chomko G, Gaz DV, et al. The Effects of Stretching on Performance. Current Sports Medicine Reports. 2014;13:179. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000052