Health, Fitness & Human Performance
Staying able to train.
9 topics · 11 curated works
No prior grounding assumed.
Current Concepts in Muscle Stretching for Exercise and Rehabilitation
Phil Page · 2012
Surveys the physiology and typology of stretching and argues that different goals — acute range of motion, chronic flexibility gain, injury risk —…
+2 more at this level
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
Does Stretching Improve Performance? A Systematic and Critical Review of the Literature
Ian Shrier · 2004
Reviews decades of trials on pre-exercise stretching and finds no consistent evidence it prevents injury, and some evidence acute static stretching…
+3 more at this level
Primary sources and full treatments.
Incidence, Severity, Aetiology and Prevention of Sports Injuries: A Review of Concepts
Willem van Mechelen, Hynek Hlobil & Han C. G. Kemper · 1992
Sets out the four-step sequence of injury prevention — establish extent, establish causes, introduce measures, re-evaluate — that still structures…
+3 more at this level
11 works
Phil Page
Surveys the physiology and typology of stretching and argues that different goals — acute range of motion, chronic flexibility gain, injury risk — call for different stretching methods rather than one universal routine.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Michael F. Bergeron et al.
Argues broad, varied physical development with deliberate rest outperforms early single-sport specialisation for both long-term athletic success and injury prevention in young athletes, and sets load and recovery guidelines by developmental stage rather than age alone.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Eline van der Kruk (The Royal Institution)
Uses biomechanical modelling to show that everyday movements like rising from a chair sit close to the limit of what joints and muscles can produce, which is why small losses of capacity have large consequences with age.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Ian Shrier
Reviews decades of trials on pre-exercise stretching and finds no consistent evidence it prevents injury, and some evidence acute static stretching reduces the very performance it is meant to protect.
Andrea J. Fradkin, Tsharni R. Zazryn & James M. Smoliga
Pools trials of pre-activity warm-up protocols and finds a moderate, fairly consistent performance benefit, with active dynamic warm-ups outperforming passive ones.
Chris M. Bleakley, Philip Glasgow & Domhnall MacAuley
Argues the decades-old Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation advice for acute soft-tissue injury lacks trial support for rest, and proposes replacing it with optimal loading — controlled early movement rather than immobilisation.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Wolfgang Poppendieck, Michael Wegmann, Alexander Ferrauti, Mark Kellmann, Michael Pfeiffer & Tim Meyer
Pools controlled trials of post-exercise massage and finds a small, mostly perceptual recovery benefit — athletes feel less sore — with negligible effect on the objective performance measures massage is marketed to restore.
Willem van Mechelen, Hynek Hlobil & Han C. G. Kemper
Sets out the four-step sequence of injury prevention — establish extent, establish causes, introduce measures, re-evaluate — that still structures how sports medicine designs and tests prevention programmes.
Sue D. Barber-Westin & Frank R. Noyes
Reviews return-to-sport studies after ACL reconstruction and finds that the athletes cleared on strength and hop-test criteria, rather than by elapsed time alone, are the ones who avoid reinjury.
link checked 17 Sept 2026David G. Behm, Anthony J. Blazevich, Anthony D. Kay & Malachy McHugh
Pools the trial evidence on pre-exercise stretching and concludes long-duration static stretching modestly reduces power and speed while giving no clear injury-prevention benefit, overturning routine gym-floor advice.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Bas Van Hooren & Jonathan M. Peake
Reviews the mechanistic and trial evidence behind cooling down and argues the common claims — clearing lactate, preventing soreness, reducing injury — are mostly not supported, leaving comfort as the main justification.
link checked 17 Sept 2026