Spandex? Check. Cleats? Check. Frisbee shorts? Check.
After suiting up in uniform, Melissa Roberts and her teammates follow a light jog with a series of moving stretches before launching into ultimate Frisbee practice.
Roberts, a 20-year-old UF health science junior, uses stretching to ward off possible injuries during practice.
But a new study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that strength training, not stretching, is the best way for athletes to prevent injury.
Patricia M. Tripp, UF clinical associate professor and director of the CAATE Undergraduate Athletic Training Program, said squat, leg press and dead-lift exercises are all forms of strength training. She said there isn’t a lot of evidence to show stretching before physical activity will prevent an injury.
Dynamic warm-ups are the best prevention, she said. A dynamic warm-up is any type of activity that gets blood flowing such as riding a bike.
“You don’t want the muscles to be cold,” she said.
Barbara Smith, UF physical therapy research assistant professor, agreed there is a lack of evidence that stretching before a workout prevents injury. There is evidence that strength training can.
However, stretching is the focus for certain athletics such as gymnastics or dance, she said. In these sports, the athlete needs a high level of flexibility.
“If I were to pluck 10 people off the street, I’d probably be concerned with strength training,” she said.
In general, she said, staying active and staying strong are important ways to prevent injury.
Although the study focused on pre-workout warm-ups, Tripp said the key is what people do post-workout. A lot of people don’t realize the importance of the cooldown and post-activity stretching, she said. Cooling down means lowering the heart rate. This could include walking after running or slowing down after cycling quickly, Tripp said.
“If something is painful, your body is telling you something,” she said. “Address what that is.”
As for a go-to solution to prevent injury, she said it is individual-specific.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 10/30/2013 under the headline "Strength training prevents injury"
