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Since the early 1980s, stretching has been promoted as a method to prevent injury and improve athletic performance. Although research suggests that this may be true for regular stretching performed every day, an isolated act of stretching immediately before exercise likely has no effect on injury prevention and actually impairs performance in strength and power sports. This article highlights our current understanding of the effects of stretching both immediately before exercise and as a regular daily routine, and then illustrates how to apply these principles in a practice setting, using brief clinical vignettes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stretching recommendations are clouded by misconceptions and conflicting research reports. This review of the current literature on stretching and range-of-motion increases finds that one static stretch of 15 to 30 seconds per day is sufficient for most patients, but some require longer durations. Heat and ice improve the effectiveness of static stretching only if applied during the stretch. Physicians should know the demands of different stretching techniques on muscles when making recommendations to patients. An individualized approach may be most effective based on intersubject variation and differences between healthy and injured tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]