Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12202327›Full record

SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2002

Effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness and risk of injury: systematic review.

Rob D Herbert, Michael Gabriel

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
49citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

49 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Non-drug therapies for lower limb muscle cramps.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012
    Pooled it
  6. Interventions for preventing lower limb soft-tissue running injuries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2011
    Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Corticosteroid injections for painful shoulder: a meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2005
    Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Rob D HerbertSchool of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney, PO Box 170, Lidcombe, New South Wales 1825, Australia. R.Herbert@fhs.usyd.edu.au
Michael Gabriel

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness after exercise, risk of injury, and athletic performance.

methodSystematic review. DATA SOURCES: Randomised or quasi-randomised studies identified by searching Medline, Embase, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and PEDro, and by recursive checking of bibliographies.

main outcome measuresMuscle soreness, incidence of injury, athletic performance.

resultsFive studies, all of moderate quality, reported sufficient data on the effects of stretching on muscle soreness to be included in the analysis. Outcomes seemed homogeneous. Stretching produced small and statistically non-significant reductions in muscle soreness. The pooled estimate of reduction in muscle soreness 24 hours after exercising was only 0.9 mm on a 100 mm scale (95% confidence interval -2.6 mm to 4.4 mm). Data from two studies on army recruits in military training show that muscle stretching before exercising does not produce useful reductions in injury risk (pooled hazard ratio 0.95, 0.78 to 1.16).

conclusionsStretching before or after exercising does not confer protection from muscle soreness. Stretching before exercising does not seem to confer a practically useful reduction in the risk of injury, but the generality of this finding needs testing. Insufficient research has been done with which to determine the effects of stretching on sporting performance.

Indexed as

ExerciseAthletic InjuriesHumansLeg InjuriesMuscle ContractionMuscle RelaxationMuscle, SkeletalMusculoskeletal SystemPainRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID12202327
PMCPMC119442

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.