> But even more interesting, they also reported that they felt less stable and more unbalanced after the stretching than when they didn’t stretch.
I find it somewhat suspect that the study doesn't say they in any way tested the athletes stability or balance, just that they took them at their word. It sounds suspiciously like it might even be the Dunning-Kruger effect in action.
Another thing which is suspect is that these studies are done on very short time-frames. It's quite common that things that are beneficial in the long-term result in short term problems. I'd be very interested to see some multi-month or even multi-year studies, especially studies working with more dynamic metrics (for example, taking populations of sports teams and comparing win/loss numbers.)
In general I think stretching is important in a variety of ways for physical activity, and these studies are all focusing in on some very narrow artificial activities I don't personally do very often. I guess this validates that I don't stretch before getting on my bicycle, but it doesn't really speak to stretching before dancing or anything other than strength tests that hit very specific muscles for a short period.
I find it somewhat suspect that the study doesn't say they in any way tested the athletes stability or balance, just that they took them at their word. It sounds suspiciously like it might even be the Dunning-Kruger effect in action.
Another thing which is suspect is that these studies are done on very short time-frames. It's quite common that things that are beneficial in the long-term result in short term problems. I'd be very interested to see some multi-month or even multi-year studies, especially studies working with more dynamic metrics (for example, taking populations of sports teams and comparing win/loss numbers.)
In general I think stretching is important in a variety of ways for physical activity, and these studies are all focusing in on some very narrow artificial activities I don't personally do very often. I guess this validates that I don't stretch before getting on my bicycle, but it doesn't really speak to stretching before dancing or anything other than strength tests that hit very specific muscles for a short period.