Mixed
Chronic static stretching exercises produce an overall unclear effect on skeletal muscle hypertrophy in healthy individuals, with a trivial point estimate and a prediction interval ranging from trivial negative to moderate positive effects.
Do not expect static stretching to build significant muscle on its own. While it improves flexibility, its impact on muscle size is negligible for most people. If you do stretch, ensure you are doing it for long durations (e.g., >60s per exercise) and high frequency, but prioritize resistance training for hypertrophy.
Overall, findings indicated an unclear effect of chronic SS exercises on skeletal muscle hypertrophy with a trivial point estimate (standardised mean difference [SMD] = 0.118 [95% prediction interval [95% PI] = − 0.233 to 0.469; p = 0.017]) and low heterogeneity (I2 = 24%).
Why this rating
Based on a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis of 25 studies, though the overall effect is unclear.
Source
Chronic Effects of Static Stretching Exercises on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis
Fabian Arntz et al. · Sports Medicine - Open · 2024
DOI 10.1186/s40798-024-00772-y
More from this paper
- Trained individuals experience larger stretching-induced muscle gains compared to recreationally trained or sedentary individuals.Good
- Greater variety of stretching exercises, longer mean duration of single stretching exercises, and increased time under stretching per session, week, and in total are associated with greater skeletal muscle hypertrophy.Good
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