It’s one of the great exercise debates: should you warm-up with static or dynamic stretching? After decades of conflicting information, the answer, it seems, is a mixture of both.

For more than 30 years, from the 1960s to the late 90s, conventional wisdom held that static stretching was important for increased flexibility, improved performance and injury reduction. This has been followed by 15 years of thinking that static stretching risks performance impairments and doesn’t prevent injury – leading to the rise of dynamic stretching.

Now, a group of scientists have systematically reviewed hundreds of studies into stretching from the past 15 years. They conclude that static stretching, when incorporated into a full warm-up routine including an initial aerobic component and dynamic stretching, should not result in significant performance impairments and may reduce muscle strain injury risk. This systematic review has also highlighted the lack of scientific data regarding the effects of dynamic stretching on injury risk.

"It is important for fitness professionals and enthusiasts, coaches, rehabilitation professionals and other scientists to critically assess the findings of fitness studies" said lead author of the study Dr David Behm.

"Before incorporating new findings into your fitness activities, think about how the study applies to your situation and activities."

The research has been published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism and the findings have also been endorsed by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP).

"CSEP strongly supports promoting physical activity for healthy outcomes and equally important to that are warm up routines that increase range of motion and decrease muscle injury," said Dr Phil Chilibeck, CSEP Chair.

“The inclusion of static, or Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), stretching is recommended and has the potential to positively influence the standard warm-up routines of a large number of athletes.”