Static stretching has a bad reputation these days. That’s why we went to the literature to see what is being said about it recently.

A study by Oliviera et al. (2011) examined the effects of active static stretching on maximal isometric force (MVC) and rate of force development (RFD) over time intervals of 0-30, 0-50, 0-100, 0-150 and 0-200ms. Fifteen male subjects were tested for knee extensor MVC and RFD where baseline values were obtained. Participants participated in a 10 * 30s active stretching routine following which MVC and RFD were re-tested for in random order.

The results show that maximum isometric force declined by 4.9% following static stretching, however rate of force development up to 100ms did not decrease significantly. From this study, it can be concluded that while active static stretching hinders maximum force production, short explosive muscular contractions are not effected by it.

More on this subject to come soon.