A Neurobiological Outlook on Pre-Competition Static Stretching

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The use of static stretching before running is generally not advised. Wilson et al. (2010) found that static stretching prior to a maximal run effort resulted in an increased energy cost compared to a non-static stretching group. In a more off-road running specific context, Lowery et al. (2014) found static stretching to be performance impeding in a 1 mile uphill time trial at 5% gradient. A more recent systematic review by Warneke and Lohmann (2024) concluded that static stretching was to be avoided prior to maximal efforts (this review was more targeted at sprinting rather than endurance running, though). Although the current evidence suggests static stretching is detrimental to maximal intensity exercise due to the physical drawbacks (for example, an immediate reduction in strength, Page 2012), the above studies were taken place in laboratory environments, and thus not anxiety-inducing, like important races (that have the potential to induce high amounts of anxiety). Due to this, only the physical consequences of static stretching are found in the above studies, but the potential psychological consequences are un-researched. This article aims to propose the use of static stretching prior to competition for athletes with specific psychological characteristics. The article begins by discussing the way in which our bodies change emotion, before explaining why static stretching may be a suitable and potentially effective intervention for ensuring the athlete is in a performance enhancing mind-state. 

Rather than our brains being the source of emotional change, the James-Lange theory of emotion suggests that our brains are sent autonomic signals from physical reactions to external situations. Put simply, the physical responses to specific stimuli occur before the emotional change, rather than the emotional change dictating our physical response. For example, when descending a very narrow ridge, an athlete is likely to experience an emotional change (increased feelings of anxiousness) and physical changes (increased heart/sweat rate or increased muscle tension). The theory suggests that upon descending the ridge, muscle tone, heart rate and sweat rate increases. The information regarding these physical changes is sent to the brain which dictates our emotion. One of the key monitors of anxiety is muscle tension. If information is being sent to the brain indicating that the body is becoming more tense, the human will begin to feel anxious. This works both ways in which if the muscles begin to relax, that information is sent to the brain, forcing feelings of anxiousness to decrease. 

With the above in mind, for athletes who experience high-levels of anxiety prior to important competitions, the most effective interventions for reducing feelings of anxiety are related to decreasing the primary physical symptom which is a monitor for anxiety (in this case, muscle tension). This explains why - in the medical field - diazepam is a common drug prescribed for both muscular and psychological conditions (Sapolsky, 2010). Static stretching acts in a similar way (by decreasing muscle tension and thus increasing feelings of relaxation) and therefore seems to be a potentially suitable sport-specific intervention for decreasing pre-competition anxiety. 

It’s important to note that this intervention is only suitable for those with performance-impeding levels of pre-competition anxiety. Firstly, the physical drawbacks of static stretching (discussed in the opening paragraph) must not be ignored and secondly, the varying levels of arousal in which individual athletes perform optimally must be considered. For example, the “individual zones of optimal functioning” model (Hanin, 2000, cited in Williams and Krane, 2015) suggests that each individual athlete has an arousal level in which they perform at their best. While some athletes may perform better with lower levels of anxiety, certain athletes may perform optimally with high levels of anxiety/arousal. If this is the case, trying to reduce that athlete’s level of anxiety prior to an event will likely do more harm than good. In this case, static stretching would not be an effective intervention. The idea of decreasing muscle tension (through static stretching) prior to competition must be reserved for athletes who posses extremely high levels of anxiety to the point in which it’s having a negative impact on performance (to an extent where the psychological negatives are outweighing the potential physical negatives of static stretching). 

In summary, our physical symptoms are a key dictator in our emotions. To manipulate specific emotions, we must manipulate the physical symptoms that are monitored by the brain. In the case of anxiety, muscle tension is a key symptom, meaning decreasing muscle tension should also decrease feelings of anxiousness. It seems that the most holistic and sport specific way of decreasing muscle tension is by static stretching. This isn’t optimal for physical performance, but in the case that an athlete’s feelings of anxiety are outweighing the potential physical drawbacks of static stretching, it may be a useful intervention. Dynamic stretching was considered (as it seems to have little, or no, physical drawbacks), but it doesn’t seem as though dynamic stretching is effective in reducing muscle tension as static stretching. A proposal of the use of static stretching for reducing pre-competition anxiety is an original idea and thus doesn’t possess any supporting evidence as of yet. However, the hope is that this idea may aid in identifying an anxiety-reducing intervention for those suffering from performance impeding pre-competition anxiety.

References

Lowery, R. P., Joy, J. M., Brown, L. E., Oliveira de Souza, E., Wistocki, D. R., Davis, G. S., Naimo, M. A., Zito, G. A., & Wilson, J. M. (2014). Effects of static stretching on 1-mile uphill run performance. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 28(1), 161–167. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182956461

Page P. (2012). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International journal of sports physical therapy, 7(1), 109–119.

Sapolsky, R. (2010). 14. Limbic System [video]. Youtube. Stanford.

Warneke, K., & Lohmann, L. H. (2024). Revisiting the stretch-induced force deficit: A systematic review with multilevel meta-analysis of acute effects. Journal of sport and health science, 13(6), 805–819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2024.05.002

Williams, J., Krane, V. (2015). Mental Training for Performance Enhancement. Applied Sports Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance. 7th Edition. McGraw hill.

Wilson, J. M., Hornbuckle, L. M., Kim, J. S., Ugrinowitsch, C., Lee, S. R., Zourdos, M. C., Sommer, B., & Panton, L. B. (2010). Effects of static stretching on energy cost and running endurance performance. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(9), 2274–2279. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b22ad6