Myth #9 - Static Stretching Is Not Injury Insurance

Static stretching can be useful for flexibility or for relaxing before training. The myth is that doing it before exercise reliably prevents injuries.

The evidence is weaker than the marketing line. A BMJ systematic review found that stretching before exercise did not produce a practically useful reduction in injury risk. A later systematic review of sports injury studies reported that stretching was not significantly associated with fewer total injuries. And in a 25-trial meta-analysis of exercise-based injury prevention, stretching showed no beneficial effect, while strength and proprioception work did.

The practical swap: keep stretching if it helps you feel ready, but do not treat it as injury insurance. Warm up dynamically, increase training load gradually, and build strength around the movements you actually do.