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January 10, 2009 - 1:39 pm MDT One habit that many people get into during their workouts, whether it is in between their weight lifting sets or between their sprint intervals is performing static stretches to help keep the muscles lose and prevent muscle soreness.

But, is static stretching really beneficial during your workout? Or does it hinder your performance abilities?

This is what researchers out of the University of Western Australia recently looked at on a study that was designed to examine the effects of static stretching during the recovery periods of field-based team sports with regards to their later sprint performance as well as their ability to change direction while in play.

The study had 12 male participates perform the test on four different occasions. Each subject began with a standardized warm-up and then followed this with a test to gauge their repeated sprint ability or their change in direction speed.

In both instances they were to perform three sets of six maximal sprint repetitions using a four minute recovery period between sets.

 

During the break between sets they then either completely rested or else completed a static stretching protocol. The pattern to test the maximum sprint ability was just a straightforward line sprint while the test to determine their change of direction speed had them alter their direction 100 degrees every four meters for a total of four times.

The results of the study indicated that there was a consistent tendency for the straight line tests to be slower after the static stretching had been performed, while there was not nearly the same effect seen on the change of direction group.

Therefore, from this study we can determine that if you are primarily doing a workout performing straight out running sprints (which is the case for most people when utilizing a HIIT protocol), you’re better off not stretching between your sprint bouts and saving it for later once the workout is finished.

Reference: Beckett, JR. et al. (2009) Effects of static stretching on repeated sprint and change of direction performance. Med. Sci. Sports Exercise. Jan 5. Post by: Shannon-Clark