Stretching Is Useless? 9 Myths — and What Actually Helps.

Few topics hang on as stubbornly as stretching. Before training, after training, against tension, against "shortened" muscles. Practice says something different — and it's pretty clear-cut.

The points below come from a continuing education course with a physiotherapist and lecturer in exercise science with 36 years of professional experience. His core thesis: stretching is a small building block at best. The rest of the effect comes from active movement, coordination and strength.

One thing up front: if stretching does you good, you don't have to drop it. But if it hasn't done anything for you in years — here's why.

Myth 01 — "Shortened muscles need to be stretched"

A genuine structural shortening takes months to years. Connective tissue renews itself over a period of roughly 300 to 500 days. Muscles shorten structurally only under long-term immobilization — intensive care, a wheelchair, a joint that isn't moved for over a year.

What most people feel as "shortening" is increased muscle tension. And that usually has a reason: the nervous system raises tone as protection — a cast made by your own body that stabilizes the spine, hip or shoulder because the musculature there is too weak. Stretching lowers that tension briefly. Without building strength, it's back the next day.

On top of that: anyone who stands up, walks and runs takes their hip flexor into full length every day. It isn't short. It's tense.

Myth 02 — "Stretching protects against injury"

Picture a wet towel that you pull apart: fluid gets squeezed out, the tissue is compressed. That's exactly what happens to the vessels in the muscle during static stretching. Better circulation? More like the opposite.

What actually protects you: an active warm-up. Easy running, jumps, sport-specific movements with and without a ball, with a resistance band. Temperature up, all structures actively engaged.

Myth 03 — "You absolutely have to stretch after training"

After an endurance effort, the musculature is already maximally perfused. Pulling it into length on top of that is more likely to add micro-injuries.

Better: cool down, drink, eat — and above all sleep. Sleep is the best recovery measure there is. In the Bundesliga, practically nobody stretches after a match anymore.

Myth 04 — "Tense muscles need to be stretched"

Tension is a protective response for small joint structures — vertebrae, shoulder, hip, knee. If you only lower the tension without fixing the cause, the complaints come right back.

The primary measure is activity: movement with and without resistance that removes the body's reason for protective tension.

Myth 05 — "The more mobile, the healthier"

Excessive stretching over years widens not just the musculature but also the capsule and ligament apparatus. The result is instability. Ballet and rhythmic gymnastics need those ranges of motion — but the same people have above-average rates of unstable hip, spinal, shoulder and sacroiliac joints at 50 to 70.

Everyday mobility comes from everyday movement. Nobody needs more than that.

Myth 06 — "If you can touch the floor with straight knees, you're healthy"

Not a valid health criterion. Reach depends heavily on body proportions — long legs relative to torso and arms simply make it harder. Force it, and you're more likely to end up with back problems.

The human body is three-dimensional and has a great many joints. This one ability is functionally just not necessary.

Myth 07 — "Fascia need stretching"

Fascia need fluid and movement in all directions — three-dimensional, with pressure and tension. Not static pulling in one direction.

"Fascia training" means cyclical lengthening and contracting through active movement. That saturates the tissue and sets neuromuscular stimuli. In practical terms: lying down and standing up, push-ups, squats, lots of repetitions on a stair step for the ankle.

Myth 08 — "Animals stretch too, don't they"

Animals do a brief stretch — a reset for the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system. No dog holds a stretch for ten minutes per limb. That's something completely different from static stretching.

Myth 09 — "The stronger the stretching pain, the better"

Pain is a nerve response. A stop signal from the nerves supplying muscles, tendons and ligaments. "More is better" doesn't apply here — forcing it hard provokes the nervous and movement systems.

What to Do Instead

Four things. No equipment needed, all of it living-room friendly.

1. Lying down and standing up — 19 times a day

The most complete full-body movement there is. Every joint gets moved through. Start with what's possible — 1, 3, 5 repetitions — and build over weeks. A chair, stool or kitchen table for support is completely fine. Works at 40 just as well as at 80.

2. Push-ups

Against a wall, on a door frame, on the floor. Scale to your level.

3. Squats

Daily, through the range of motion that's pain-free.

4. Active warm-up instead of static stretching

10 to 15 minutes of easy running, jumps, sport-specific movements with or without a resistance band.

On top of that: drink enough — a guideline of 30 to 40 ml per kilogram of body weight per day, so around 2.5 liters at 80 kg. With heart or kidney conditions, only your doctor's instructions apply. And have your vitamin D status tested and managed by your doctor.

The Bottom Line

You don't lose mobility because you don't stretch. You lose it because you stop performing movements. Six hours of sitting makes you stiff — standing up fixes that in seconds. Nothing there is structurally shortened.

The key is movement: coordinative, mobilizing, strengthening. Stretching is a small building block at most. If it hasn't done anything for you in years: drop it for a few weeks, replace it with active strengthening — and see what happens. Document the change, and you'll have your own answer.

This post is not a substitute for medical or physiotherapeutic advice. If you have existing complaints, after surgery or with chronic conditions, talk to your doctor or therapist first.