Stretching Prior to Exercise May Increase Risk of Injury

It has long been assumed that stretching prior to exercise will enhance your performance and even help to prevent injuries. However, recent scientific research is actually showing an adverse affect claiming that depending on support you are participating in flexibility may help or hinder your performance advised a San Diego massage specialist.

There have been past reviews on the topic of stretching and none have revealed compelling scientific evidence that stretching before exercise will reduce your rate of injury. However, studies have shown that warming up prior to exercise has had an effect to reduce injury risk.

A San Diego massage therapist advised that it has been discovered that muscles that are being statically stretched for a period of time will initially become less able to absorb energy and tolerate strain. This can actually lead to an increased risk of injury during sub-sequence forced muscle contractions. This has been found to be especially true if the muscles stretch is being held for more than 20 to 30 seconds As this can start to deform the ends of the muscles at their tendons where we find the most high density of collagen.