BY LYNN BOOTH, MSC MCSP

LEARNING OUTCOMES In recent years there have been several headlines in the national press and medical journals/magazines questioning the use of stretching. Although the headlines have been rather provocative, on closer reading the articles have only suggested that stretching is not the panacea of all ills. Stretching is an important aspect of an athlete’s general

conditioning programme. However, why and when this type of programme should be undertaken is open to debate (2). Herbert and Gabriel (3) concluded that stretching before or after exercise did not prevent muscle soreness and that stretching before exercise did not reduce the risk of injury or improve sporting performance. In his literature review, Shrier (4) concluded that an acute bout of stretching (just prior to the activity) did not improve force or jump height and that although regular stretching improved jump height and speed, there was no evidence that it improved running economy. Other authors have been unable to show that stretching reduces injury (3, 5, 6, 7). Nevertheless, stretching to reduce injury remains a commonly held belief within sport. One of the reasons for the controversy regarding the benefits of stretching may be in the terminology itself. As a definition of terms, mobility is the facility of movement and stretch is the elongation or linear deformation that increases length. Importantly there is a difference between “stretching” as part of a warm-up prior to training/competition, and “stretching” as a means of improving mobility/flexibility. Exercises to improve mobility should not be a part of

warming-up. Nevertheless, maintaining or improving joint, muscle and neural mobility should be an integral part of an athlete’s general conditioning programme. For the purpose of this article, only joint and muscle mobility will be considered. Stretching may enhance performance in athletes with insufficient range to maintain correct movement patterns or to perform a given task with maximum efficiency. After training, particularly high intensity training, athletes, whether hypomobile, normal or hypermobile, should stretch in order to return muscles to their normal resting length. Athletes with ‘normal’ flexibility or those who are considered to be hypermobile do not need to stretch to increase range. However their flexibility should be monitored on a regular basis. Athletes identified as having reduced flexibility need to stretch regularly to increase muscle length. Athletes should be made aware that although there are benefits from improving mobility there are also risks associated with: n Poor techniques n Allowing non-essential structures to become hypermobile (8) n Having inadequate strength and control in the new range of movement.

JOINT AND MUSCLE MOBILITY It is important to differentiate between mobility exercises for joints and those for muscles. Increasing joint mobility may be ineffective if the appropriate muscles cannot move and work functionally through the new range. Ideally all mobility regimes should be sport-specific, encourage left/right symmetry and use sporting patterns of movement. It is important for athletes to appreciate that age, gender, somatotype and existing joint mobility may have an effect

20 sportEX medicine 2008;37(Jul):20-23

MOBILITY, STRETCHING AND WARM-UP: APPLICATION IN SPORT AND EXERCISE

Mobility, stretching and warm-up are deemed to be important in sport and exercise. However, the practical implementation does not always follow established physiology and/or recent research. This article outlines some factors to be considered when developing stretching regimes or advising on warm-up prior to activity.

on maintaining or improving flexibility. Body types differ and athletes should concentrate on maintaining and/or improving mobility rather than trying to be the best in the group. In particular, flexibility regimes for young performers take on more significance following the onset of peak height velocity (PHV) (5). (The term PHV refers to “growth spurts” and is now commonly used in the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) plans of sports.) Athletes should concentrate on maintaining and/or improving mobility rather than trying to be the best in the group.

It is prudent to ensure that exercises to improve mobility should be under the control of the athlete, rather than relying on another person forcing the joint or muscle into an extreme of position. The exercises must not involve unstable starting positions, which can lead to increased muscle tension as the athlete tries to retain his/her balance (an extreme example would be a hamstring stretch with the foot balanced on a high bar).