That's Fit

For years, the prevailing belief about stretching was that it was an integral part of warming up for training and playing sports. However, recent studies have shown that all this prolonged reaching, twisting, and bending may actually be doing more harm than good.

Greek researchers published their findings, from a study they conducted on the effects stretching has on performance and strength, in a 2007 issue of the journal Experimental Physiology. The gist of what they discovered is that static stretching lasting longer than 30 seconds decreased strength by 8.5 percent and stretches lasting 60 seconds or more decreased strength by 16 percent.

It is important to note that the researchers also found that holding a stretch for less than 30 seconds did not have any effect on strength or performance. Therefore, you may not want to rule out your limbering up routine just yet. You just might want to consider only holding a stretch for a little less time.