Every physical therapist I’ve been to has said that stretching cold muscles is actually more likely to injure you than doing some light cardio to warm up before stretching.
As an athletic trainer, I describe it like so:
Think of your muscles as a rubber band. If its cold, then its more at risk of snapping under load. To warm it up, you stretch it gently repeatedly. (Dynamic stretches) You don’t stretch it to its max and hold it there. (Static stretching) You’re just exhausting the elasticity. Saving static stretches for after activity keeps the rubber band from bunching up and sticking together as it cools down again.
An injured muscle could be described as being “colder” or like rubber bands stick together sometimes. And the best way to fix them is to work them back to normal in a controlled manor.
static stretching is for cool down & recovery, with the goal of increasing mobility when you’re already warm and loosened up.
dynamic warmups, especially in your specific problem areas (knees/shoulders), will help prevent pain and injuries.
source: 20 years of lifting and rugby with enough injuries for a minor in PT. I’ve learned my lesson(s).
absolutely this!
I also think static stretching has its place in injury prevention for day-to-day sprains and injuries. Longer, more pliable muscles = not tearing your hamstring if you accidentally fall into a split. They can be great teaching tools too, and can incorporate some core training.
But otherwise foam rolling, banded distractions, dynamic warmups get the job done just fine. Even just starting right into a warmup set if the motion feels good already.
At that point then stretching is a different form of working out or exercise. Which makes a certain kind of sense.
