Go on...stretch yourself
27 Aug 2008 by Evoluted New Media
Oxford academics are asking the sporting among us to help them find out whether stretching before or after exercising is beneficial or not.
Oxford academics are asking the sporting among us to help them find out whether stretching before or after exercising is beneficial or not.
Stretching is thought to avoid sore muscles, reduce the risk of injury and enhance sporting performance but none of this has ever been proven – in fact some studies on army recruits suggest that stretching does no good at all.
Dr Amanda Buris, Director of ThinkWell and a member of Oxford University’s Department of Primary Care, said: “It will be a chance for members of the public to contribute to knowledge. Everyone wants to know what is the best practice regarding stretching so this is an opportunity to be part of that.”
The University of Oxford, in collaboration with the University of Surrey, the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme in Spain are calling on the public to test out stretching to help them come to a definitive answer. If you are an adult and do sport or vigorous exercise at least once a week then you can take part. Oxford’s involvement is led through ThinkWell, a project set up to empower people to take control of health research and provide opportunities to participate and even design research studies.
If you want to take part you should visit the ThinkWell - www.thinkwell.eu -website where you can be assigned to a stretching or non-stretching group and track your experiences online.
By Leila Sattary
