Does Stretching Prevent Injuries? What the Research Says

Not on its own. A meta-analysis of 25 trials and 26,610 people found that stretching programs made no clear difference to sports injuries, while strength training cut them to less than a third. Stretching still improves flexibility, so keep it if you need the range of motion, but build your injury prevention on strength training and a proper warm-up.

The short answer: stretching alone doesn't prevent injuries

Lots of people stretch to avoid getting hurt. The trials don't back that up. When researchers pooled randomized trials of injury-prevention programs, stretching was the one type that showed no clear benefit.¹

The programs that did work involved getting stronger, training balance, or both. That's where your time goes further.

What does the research say about stretching and injuries?

The key study is a 2014 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine by Lauersen, Bertelsen and Andersen. It pooled 25 randomized controlled trials covering 26,610 people and 3,464 injuries, then compared different kinds of exercise programs.¹

The numbers are risk ratios: 1.0 means no change, and lower means fewer injuries. The range in brackets is the 95% confidence interval. Stretching's range runs from about 15% fewer injuries to about 10% more, so it can't be told apart from doing nothing. Strength training's range is wide, but even its weakest end is a large reduction.

Across all program types together, both sudden (acute) injuries and overuse injuries went down, with overuse injuries almost halved.¹

Its limits: the overall results varied a lot from trial to trial, and the authors note a few outlying studies. The trials tested different programs in different groups of people, so the numbers are averages, not a promise for any one person. And because the strength estimate comes from a subset of the 25 trials, its exact size is less certain than its direction.

Does stretching before exercise prevent injury?

Not in any way the research can show. A 2016 review by Behm and colleagues looked at the short-term effects of different kinds of stretching.² It found:

• Static stretching (holding a position) and PNF stretching (contract-then-relax) had no clear effect on overall or overuse injuries.
• There were no injury data at all for dynamic stretching, the moving kind such as leg swings.
• Static holds right before activity lowered performance a little, by 3.7% on average. Holding a muscle 60 seconds or longer cost more (4.6%) than holding it under 60 seconds (1.1%).
• In the studies that added dynamic activity after the stretching, there was no clear effect on performance.
• Gains in range of motion from a single session usually lasted under 30 minutes.

To be fair to stretching, the authors still recommend some stretching inside a warm-up that finishes with dynamic movement, with reducing muscle injuries and improving range of motion as the aim. So a muscle-strain benefit is possible. It just hasn't shown up clearly in the injury trials.

Does stretching reduce muscle soreness?

Hardly. A Cochrane review pooled 12 studies of stretching before or after exercise.³

• Stretching before exercise cut next-day soreness by about half a point on a 100-point scale.
• Stretching after exercise cut it by about one point.
• One large trial of 2,377 people found about four points less peak soreness over a week. That was statistically significant but, in the authors' words, very small.

All of the other 11 trials were small, with 10 to 30 people stretching, and all carried a moderate or high risk of bias. The reviewers concluded that stretching doesn't produce clinically important reductions in soreness in healthy adults.

Can strength training improve flexibility too?

Yes, about as well as stretching, based on the trials so far. A 2021 meta-analysis by Afonso and colleagues pooled 11 randomized trials with 452 people that pitted strength training directly against stretching.⁴ Range-of-motion gains showed no significant difference between the two (effect size −0.22, p = 0.21).

Its limits: the trials were small and very different from each other. They included frail older adults, college students, office workers with neck pain, people with fibromyalgia, hurdlers and dance students. The authors call for more research. Still, it suggests you don't have to choose between getting stronger and keeping your mobility.

A practical takeaway, as guidance rather than a study result: lift through the full range of motion you can control. For squats specifically, see our guide to whether deep squats are bad for your knees.

What actually lowers injury risk?

1. Strength training

It had the largest effect in the 2014 meta-analysis.¹ You don't need anything fancy. Train the major muscle groups a couple of times a week and add load gradually. If you're starting out, see your first 12 weeks of lifting.

2. A proper warm-up

The evidence for warming up leans more positive, though it's still not airtight. A 2006 review found five high-quality trials: three showed fewer injuries with a warm-up, and two found no clear difference.⁵ The authors said the evidence was too thin to make a firm call, but that it leaned toward warming up lowering injury risk.

One large trial followed 1,892 female soccer players aged 13 to 17 from 125 clubs in Norway for an eight-month season.⁶ About half the clubs used a structured warm-up built around strength, body awareness and control in static and moving positions. The main target, fewer leg injuries, just missed statistical significance. But the risk of any injury was 32% lower, overuse injuries 53% lower and severe injuries 45% lower. It's one sport, one age group and one sex, so it doesn't prove the same for adult lifters.

Warming up also helps you perform. A 2010 meta-analysis of 32 studies found a warm-up improved performance in 79% of the measures tested, with little sign of harm.⁷

3. Balance work

Balance training cut injuries by about 45% in the 2014 meta-analysis.¹ In the gym, single-leg exercises such as split squats, step-ups and single-leg deadlifts are a simple way to add a balance challenge to strength work. That part is coaching practice, not a trial result.

A simple warm-up you can use before lifting

This is common coaching practice built from the findings above, not a protocol tested in a trial:

1. 3 to 5 minutes of easy cardio. Bike, rower or brisk walk, until you feel warm.
2. 3 to 5 minutes of dynamic movement for the joints you'll train: leg swings, walking lunges, bodyweight squats, arm circles.
3. Two to four lighter ramp-up sets of your first lift, building toward your working weight.
4. Optional: if a tight spot limits your position, stretch it for under 60 seconds, then do a few dynamic reps before you load it.

Rep Labs plans your reps and weight from your training history and adds warm-up sets, so step 3 is built in.

When is stretching still worth doing?

• Your sport or goal needs range. If you're training for a specific position, like a split, stretching is a direct way to work on it, and it improved range of motion about as well as strength training in the 2021 meta-analysis.⁴
• Inside a warm-up. Stretching followed by dynamic movement is what the 2016 review recommends, and holds under 60 seconds had the smallest effect on performance.²
• You enjoy it. If it helps you wind down after training, there's no reason to stop. Just don't count on it to keep you injury-free.