Myth or Medicine Verdict: Myth
The claim
"Hold your stretches before the game. It keeps you from getting hurt."
Every athlete has heard it. Sit in a hamstring stretch, hold it, count it out, and you are protected. It is one of the most durable pieces of advice in sport.
What the research shows
Across the studies and systematic reviews that have examined pre-exercise static stretching, the protective effect the saying promises does not show up in a meaningful way. Holding long static stretches immediately before activity has not been shown to reliably reduce overall injury rates, and prolonged holds can temporarily reduce strength and power output in the activity that follows.
That second point matters for athletes. A warm-up routine that leaves you slightly weaker at kickoff is a strange trade for a benefit the evidence cannot find.
What actually holds up
The better supported picture of pre-game preparation looks like this:
- Dynamic warm-ups that raise tissue temperature and rehearse sport movements have a stronger evidence base for preparation than long static holds.
- Structured warm-up programs, the kind built around movement, strength, and balance work, have shown reductions in certain injuries in team-sport research.
- Flexibility training has its place. Static stretching done as its own session, away from competition, is a reasonable tool for range of motion goals.
The verdict, explained
Static stretching is not dangerous and it is not useless. But as an injury-prevention ritual performed right before sport, the claim is a myth. If you keep one habit, make it a real dynamic warm-up. If you love stretching, move it to its own time slot.