To Stretch or not to Stretch

That is the question….. and yes I’m going THERE!

Research is inconclusive on this issue and still the debate continues.  Many research reports that stretching produces an inhibitory response in muscle tissue.  Hence, the reason that in is now not recommended to stretch before exercise or activity.  (inhibition = bad communication to the nervous system)

An official government review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in the March 2004 issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise concluded that the research available on stretching is inadequate.

Other reports indicate that stretching can actually decrease performance and has no real effect in the prevention of injury.

Make your own conclusions, I’m not saying stretching is bad, just know what you are doing (or what someone else is doing) to your body. Check out this article from the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1&em