Should I stretch before working out to prevent injury and soreness?

The research points in one direction. A Cochrane review by Herbert and colleagues pooled 12 randomised trials, including one large field study of more than 2,300 people. Stretching before, after, or both produced no clinically important reduction in muscle soreness. The difference from not stretching came to about a single point on a 100-point scale, too small to feel.

For injuries the picture is just as clear. Lauersen and colleagues combined 25 randomised trials with over 26,000 participants. Stretching gave no protective effect (risk ratio 0.96, effectively no difference). Strength training, by contrast, cut injury risk to less than a third, and nearly halved overuse injuries.

There is a nuance. Behm's systematic review shows that long static stretches, 60 seconds or more per muscle, briefly reduce force and strength by a few percent right afterwards, while shorter holds are barely noticeable. That same review does not dismiss warming up: stretching done as part of a warm-up that continues into movement can help range of motion without appearing to hurt performance. So the problem isn't the stretch itself, but the idea that it replaces a real warm-up or works as injury insurance.

Taken together: a short warm-up that gradually gets you moving prepares the body, and strength built over time is what protects joints and muscles. Stretch if you enjoy it and want more mobility, but not in the belief that it keeps soreness or injury away.

Stretching feels protective. It's a calm preparation ritual that gives a sense of control before something meant to tax the body, and the brain likes habits that seem to ward off danger. When nothing goes wrong, the routine is confirmed ("good thing I stretched"). Get hurt anyway, and the skipped stretch often takes the blame, a convenient explanation that avoids looking at load, sleep or ramping up too fast. The legacy of school PE lingers: a whole generation was taught that stretching before a session is mandatory. And fitness culture is happy to sell mobility routines, because a step that feels wholesome and harmless is easy to package even when its effect on soreness and injury is small.

Don't skip the warm-up, but swap the long static stretch for a few minutes of easy movement that gradually raises the pace and takes your joints through their range. If you want more mobility, stretching is great; save it for after the session or a moment of its own. And the thing that genuinely keeps injuries away is built over months: regular strength training.