As an osteopath and a specialist therapist dealing with runners and triathletes in particular ironman .. I often get asked this question “should I really bother stretching?”
Often runners present to me and have never stretched before in their life period ….especially after completing several ironman and yet when you examine them they are restricted in multiple areas & weak in others .However what the research does suggest is that strength training is more beneficial than stretching in addressing injuries. However when you look at the research further in detail it is often more likely to be static stretching rather than dynamic and with a variety of differing athletes across a variety of sports.
So what about stretching? do we stop?
In my opinion … and it is my opinion we should probably speak instead of terms of specific injuries and types of injury commonly sustained by the specific type of athlete. It is more often the case especially in triathletes injuries occur for the following reasons –
1/as a result of muscular imbalance
2/a result of instability
3/as a result of over or underuse of certain muscles thereby creating compensatory movement patterns
Therefore the rehab should involve the following as part of a multidisciplinary approach
1/specific stretching
2/rehab/strengthening muscles that are weak
3/identifying dysfunction especially as imbalances
4/combining correction exercises through strengthening & stretching plus mobilising in order to improve muscle control in order to re-educate the patient
Therefore stretching in isolation is NOT going to address the issue but a multifaceted approach of strengthening/balance/proprioception/elements of stretching in order to sort out the troublesome areas identified in the triathlete/runner
