Stretching is great at improving our flexibility – something we are often looking to improve as dancers!
But dance teachers are often insistent that we stretch at the end of class to “prevent injuries…”
So what does the decades of research say? 🧐
While many scientific papers require at least some degree of scientific training to assess their quality and relevance, this 2021 systematic review from Afonso et al. is a really reader-friendly paper, even if you have no science background!
Afonso et al. go through some simple questions: “Can I?” versus “Do I have to?” stretch in multiple scenarios.
Let’s dive in! 🏊♀️
The effects of stretching on injury risk
From Afonso et. al’s 2021 Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis:
“The answer to “Can I stretch?” is yes—it probably will not increase injury risk.
But the answer to “do I have to stretch?” is “possibly no”—as the likelihood of decreasing the injury risk is contentious.”
So if you want to stretch after dancing, and it feels good, go for it! It’s a good time to work on your range of motion and flexibility. But decades of research suggests that it will likely not make much difference to your injury risk.
The effects of stretching on recovery
Both a Cochrane review (a type of rigorous and routinely updated Systematic Review) and a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis did not support stretching to aid recovery or lessen delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in any clinically important way.
That means that it wasn’t meaningful enough to be impactful. So even if we do stretch, it won’t make a difference that we would actually benefit from. We’ll still be sore if we’ve trained in a way that’s new, or more difficult than usual!
The best way to not get sore? Train consistently, and progress gradually!
Did you learn something new about stretching?
My name is Siobhan Camille.
I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer.
I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient.
I offer the Dance Strong Challenge year-round to support dancers in getting stronger. Find out more here.
I trust your advice based on your background and knowledge. How ironic that a few messages down in my email was another dancer extolling the need for cool down stretches to avoid injury.
Hey Delores, I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm! And as I say, there’s nothing wrong with stretching in the cool down. In fact, it’s a great time to stretch to improve our flexibility, because we’re already warmed up, so we might be able to stretch a bit further / get more out of it. But yes, it’s a myth that persists, for sure!