Post-Workout Stretching Doesn't Help Recovery
Comprehensive research finds no significant benefits from stretching on muscle recovery or athletic performance.
The outdated practice of post-workout stretching doesn’t help you recover faster, feel less sore, and come back stronger for your next session after all. There was never any solid indication that it did, either; it just feels good. You can just put your weights away and walk out the gym door?!
A comprehensive meta-analysis published recently analysed 15 studies involving 465 participants to determine whether post-exercise stretching genuinely improves muscle recovery and performance. The findings should not be controversial.
Overview
This study examined the effects of post-exercise stretching compared to no stretching on lower limb muscle recovery and performance indicators. The investigation focused on five key outcome measures: muscle soreness, strength, flexibility, athletic performance, and pain threshold.
Methods
The research team searched eight databases through July 20, 2025, including Web of Science, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Embase, and ProQuest. They included randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, and crossover trials that compared post-exercise stretching interventions, including static stretching, dynamic stretching, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) with no stretching controls.
The 15 included studies featured a total of 465 participants, with 10 parallel-group controlled trials and 5 crossover trials. Most studies implemented acute interventions, comprising single sessions or no more than three sessions. The targeted muscle groups were almost exclusively located in the lower limbs. Data were synthesised using random-effects models, and effect sizes were expressed as standardised mean differences.
Results
The results revealed no statistically significant benefits from post-exercise stretching across any of the measured outcomes. Specifically:
