Stretching before or after exercise to try and prevent injury and aching muscles is a waste of time according to new research from Australian physiotherapists.

The research, recently published in the British Medical Journal, was led by Rob Herbert, lecturer in physiotherapy at the University of Sydney.

The research looked at five studies which investigate the benefits stretching on muscle soreness and when the results were pooled they showed insignificant benefits. On a scale of one to 100 stretching was found to decrease soreness by less than two.

'Most athletes will consider this magnitude too small to stretching worthwhile,' says Herbert. 'We can say there is no evidence it does any good.'

When it comes to injury, the study found the average person would need to stretch for 23 years in order to prevent a single injury.