News: April 2025

Stretching to Warm Up? Not Anymore...

I have always been a huge advocate of stretching. And why wouldn't I be? Stretching is touted as a fitness necessity by massage therapists, personal trainers, physical therapists, and athletes. But underneath the dogma is a sea of research on the benefits of stretching and the findings are consistently, well, underwhelming. The more I dig, the more I learn that stretching is surprisingly overrated. Nearly every reason we've been given to stretch is not backed by science!

Now, there's a LOT to unpack there, but for the purposes of this short article, we'll look at one example. (If you're interested in learning more, check out Paul Ingraham's massive article, Quite a Stretch.) Perhaps this topic will span a series of newsletters ... or perhaps you'll stop reading because I just dared to challenge a firm and long-held belief. I get it! I myself have spent years teaching clients about the importance of stretching. But when faced with the best evidence available to date, I choose to swallow my pride and admit that I was misguided. (Of course, the field of medicine moves so quickly that I have had to change the way I practice and preach many times throughout my 16+ years as a massage therapist!)

To be clear, when I talk about stretching, I'm referring to long-held static stretches. Dynamic stretching and exercise modalities like yoga have too many other components, e.g. movement, muscle contractions, breathwork, and mindfulness practice, to be defined as mere stretching.

Many of us stretch to warm up for exercise or sports. Unfortunately, stretching does not warm up muscles. Maybe you've been told that stretching will enhance your performance or reduce your risk of injury. I'm sorry to say that stretching will do neither - the research is very clear on that. In fact, a large 2011 review (turns out this stuff isn't that new) of all available research at the time showed not only that stretching to warm up had no significant benefit, but that it might even decrease muscle strength, cause a slight reduction in performance, and possibly cause some injuries.

A 2017 systematic review concluded, "The literature suggests that stretching poses no significant advantage to endurance runners. Acute stretching can reduce running economy and performance for up to an hour by diminishing the musculotendinous stiffness and elastic energy." Another study in 2014 found that stretching slowed down distance runners. In addition, a 2009 study on sprinters found that, "There was a consistent tendency for repeated sprint ... times to be slower after the static stretching." (If you want more evidence, here are few more studies on how pre-event static stretching has a negative impact on endurance, cycling economy, performance, and speed.)

The goal of warming up is to prepare your body for the activity ahead, and warming up properly does indeed reduce the number and severity of injuries. An excellent way to warm up for an activity is to simply begin the activity slowly. Walk or lightly jog before you run. Do some bodyweight squats before adding the dumbbells.

The evidence is consistent - stretching to warm up before activity offers no benefits, and may even have a negative impact on performance and injury risk. I am not saying you shouldn't stretch at all, only that you're probably not doing yourself any favors by stretching before a workout.

I still stretch regularly, but now I know there's only one reason why: Because it feels so good! Many of us feel a natural urge to stretch. It's like scratching an itch. We figure something that feels good must have health benefits, but of course that's not always the case. That's not to say that stretching doesn't have some kind of physiological benefit that hasn't been found. But if it does, the effect is probably minor. For the time being, stretch simply because it feels good ... or don't stretch, and rest assured that there's nothing wrong with that.

Stay tuned for a discussion about flexibility myths.

Image by pexels.com

Lift Depression with Self-Massage

If you are one of the millions of people worldwide who suffers from depression, this video is for you. Self care can be a real challenge when you're depressed. This self-massage makes it easy for you to give yourself some much needed TLC. It was designed to ease depression, release anxiety, calm your mind, raise your energy, and boost your mood.

There is an option to use a small massage ball (tennis ball, lacrosse ball, golf ball, etc.) for some of the techniques.

This video is not a substitute for treatment. If you suffer from depression, please see your doctor or a mental health professional.

What's new with me ...

Sienna had a super fun 12th birthday celebration! She and her girlfriends went on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood! Jesse and I took Sienna to several of her favorite places: A special playground, community garden, Japanese stationery store, and ice cream shop. (Oh yes, there was a LOT of ice cream and cake.) Sienna also celebrated with her classmates in school and with her family in New Jersey. Twelve is a big deal!