Interesting read (although we’ve been teaching something similar to this for a while now – but good to have back-up research).
Pre-exercise stretching is generally unnecessary and likely counterproductive. More appropriately – actively warm up before an exercise session. Findings of pre-workout stretching:
- Muscle power generally fell by about 2% after stretching
- Volunteers managed 8.3% less weight after static stretching during warm-up
Conclusion: Perform a dynamic warm-up – moving the muscles to be used during the workout.
Here is a link to the full article: http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2013/04/03/reasons-not-to-stretch/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
