Part 1: Justification for Selection of the Articles
The writer chose the three articles cited in this paper (Witvrouw, Mahieu, Danneels & McNair, 2004; Thacker, Gilchrist, Stroup & Kimsey, Jr., 2004; Andersen, 2005) because the authors of these articles provided a comprehensive discussion to support their claims of whether stretching prevented injury and reduced post-activity muscle soreness in majority of athletes.
Witvrouw et al. (2004) presented qualitative evidence that resulted from a systematic review. This research method enabled the authors to obtain comprehensive information that provided them with a holistic view of the research subject, considering that their studies involved a review of the results of previous researches. As such, their findings could be more or less generalized. In addition, a systematic review enabled them to examine the different perspectives on the research topic. On the other hand, quantitative evidence was presented by Thacker et al. (2004) and Andersen (2005) who used the meta-analysis method. This method consisted of a systematic review of the literature and a statistical analysis of the results, which enabled the authors to obtain a strong and comprehensive evidence for their claim.
Another reason for selecting these articles was their currency, that is, they were all published within the last ten years. They were also relevant because they directly addressed the question that this paper aimed to answer. Moreover, the three articles complemented each other in that their findings were similar despite the differences in their data collection and data analysis methods. In particular, while the findings of Thacker et al. (2004) and Andersen (2005) leaned more towards the negative, they were still inconclusive. On the other hand, the discussion provided by Witvrouw et al. (2004) provided some explanation with regards to the inconclusiveness of previous research findings, in turn enabling the writer to obtain a more well-rounded understanding of the research topic.
Part 2: Evidence Summary
Introduction
The articles by Witvrouw, Mahieu, Danneels and McNair (2004); Thacker, Gilchrist, Stroup and Kimsey, Jr. (2004); and Andersen (2005) were reviewed in order to obtain evidence on whether stretching prevented injury and reduced post-activity muscle soreness in majority of athletes. Thacker et al. (2004) and Andersen (2005) used the meta-analysis method in their research while Witvrouw (2004) employed a systematic review.
In this regard, this paper aims to provide a summary of the evidence obtained in these studies.
Summary of Results
The findings of Andersen (2005) indicated that stretching before exercising resulted in minimal reductions of muscle soreness after the exercise and also minimal reductions in the risk of injury. More specifically, his findings showed that, on average, muscle soreness was reduced by 2 mm on a 100-mm scale within 72 hours after exercising and that the risk of injury was reduced by 5% (Andersen, 2005). However, he did acknowledge that further research needed to be conducted. Similarly, the findings of Thacker et al. (2004) showed that stretching did not lead to significant reductions in total injuries. However, they emphasized that they did not gather sufficient evidence to suggest either discontinuing or endorsing stretching prior to an exercise routine.
On the other hand, Witvrouw et al. (2004) asserted that the inconclusiveness of previous research findings might be due to the type of sports activity involved in these studies. According to them, stretching prior to performing bouncing and jumping activities might be beneficial but it might not be so for low-intensity activities such as swimming, cycling, and jogging (Witvrouw et al., 2004).
The evidence obtained by Thacker et al. (2004) and Andersen (2005) were similar in that they both indicated minimal reductions in injury risk and muscle soreness after stretching. However, neither of them indicated which types of sports activities were involved in the studies they reviewed and they also did not specify the type of stretching performed. On the other hand, although Witvrouw et al. (2004) did not provide their results in a statistical format, their review included discussions of the types of sports activities and stretching that were examined in previous studies.
In this regard, the answer to the original question is that stretching does not significantly prevent injury nor does it significantly reduce post-activity muscle soreness in majority of athletes. However, since the evidence was inconclusive and because stretching has been shown to be beneficial for certain types of activities, the evidence does not suggest that athletes or people in general should stop stretching before exercising; rather, if it has helped them in their sports activities then it should be alright for them to continue stretching prior to these activities.
Conclusion
This paper reviewed the findings of three articles with regards to whether stretching prevented injury and reduced post-activity muscle soreness in majority of athletes. The evidence obtained was inconclusive in that insufficient evidence was available to support either the endorsement or discontinuation of stretching prior to engaging in sports activities.
References
Andersen, J. C. (2005). Stretching before and after exercise: Effect on muscle soreness and
injury risk. Journal of Athletic Training, 40(3), 218-220.
Thacker, S. B., Gilchrist, J., Stroup, D. F. & Kimsey. Jr., D. (2004). The Impact of stretching on
sports injury risk: A systematic review of the literature. Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise, 36, 371-378.
Witvrouw, E., Mahieu, N., Danneels, L., & McNair, P. (2004). Stretching and injury
prevention: an obscure relationship. Sports Medicine, 34(7), 443-449.
