Sore Muscles after Workout | Does Stretching help? - Explained by Science (17 studies)

Sore muscles after a workout - Should you stretch them?
Many will tell you that stretching doesn't reduce muscle soreness that follows an exercise session while others (athletes, coaches, and fitness enthusiasts) swear on it! If you've been in the gym long enough you should know what I'm talking about. When you're sore you're searching for things that can help your sore muscles recover and stretching would probably be the first to come in mind.
What do coaches say on how to help sore muscles:
When you're searching for what to do with sore muscles, the ''evidence-based'' coaches will tell you that studies have shown zero benefits of stretching on soreness and recovery. But do they take into account all the research that we have to date?
Stretching as a relief for sore muscles:
On the other hand, stretching has been used extensively as a way to relieve sore muscles (or in other words delayed onset muscle soreness - DOMS) and improve recovery. Many claim that stretching after an exercise session can dramatically reduce the symptoms of bothersome soreness or in some cases even prevent them from happening. The same idea supports that if you're already sore, you can ease your pain and decrease muscle stiffness by stretching. In other words, use stretching as a remedy for muscle soreness. But is this supported by science?
Does stretching serve as a recovery for sore muscles?
This video is an in-depth analysis of this topic (sorry for the length of the video, I really couldn't make it shorter), so after watching it you will know exactly what is true and what is not! I hope it helps!
More content on my IG account:
Instagram ‣ / yiannis_christoulas
Other science explained videos on stretching :
2022 UPDATE! New Side Split Flexibility Program (6 more methods added):
yiannischristoulas.teachable....
Scientific References:
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25229...
www.bmj.com/content/325/7362/468
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17943...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21735...
europepmc.org/article/med/248...
bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/14/1002
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
www.semanticscholar.org/paper...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24139...
Music:
kzbin.info...

[@YiannisChristoulas]

2022 UPDATE! New Side Split Flexibility Program (6 more methods added): yiannischristoulas.teachable.com/p/my-downloadable-16290

[@kchuen]

This is great. I think you’re the most scientific channel about flexibility and stretching. Weekly uploads would probably allow you to gain many more subs. Please keep at this.

[@MySwinter]

problem is: this studies aren't done weekly... so in a long term he will run out of Material. Nethertheless it would be rly great if he would produce content like this for other sport-linked topics. Very great Channel. Immediately subscribed!

[@phillemann]

Thank you for actually linking papers in a fitness related video. It's so rare and yet so important. Keep it up, I immediately subscribed!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you I appreciate it!

[@liamkalamaros372]

I hate arguments without sufficient evidence. Your channel and content is appreciated and much needed these days. Thank you!

[@sw6118]

An anecdotal report: being well hydrated before the workout plus foam rolling the muscles I’ll be targeting in the workout has eliminated the brutal 3-5 days bouts of DOMS that I used to get. I gave up strength training for several years, I just couldn’t take the pain. Now I’m training again, but with water+foam rolling I am only getting a minor amount of soreness that disappears within 8-10 hours.

[@Benbenshow3141]

ive watched all your videos today, great work, please upload more!!!

[@tristanwegner]

Very cool video series, with the focus on evidence. Many subscribers to you!

[@zeenat.hashmi]

I’m absolutely sore right now. I needed this sooooo much.

[@ai-man212]

So glad I found you. I'm loving the Science. It's really reassuring to know you're not wasting time on unproven methods. It makes committing to a routine so much easier.

[@kordaaas]

Πραγματικα συγχαρητηρια για αυτο και ολα τα υπολοιπα βιντεο! Καταφερνεις και εξηγεις επιστημονικα δεδομενα υπεροχα και δεν μιλας παριστανοντας μια αυθεντια, οπως οι περισσοτεροι στον χωρο.

[@ginni1998]

This is outstanding!!! This channel is super underated! Everyone who is on the fitness path must watch it. This is basic fitness literacy for all! Thankyou so much!!

[@panduwidatama4254]

thanks for your information

[@lorrylane69]

I love these. Thank you for your hard work! Also* if you turn on the subtitles it can get pretty funny. Lots of Tomes, Gnomes, Domes, Dogs, etc. just thought I would share.

[@kakufreaks]

Thank you for the excelent content.

[@YiannisChristoulas]

You're welcome! Thank you for the support!

[@leadelasleas]

Grest,thank you

[@hellwroughtangel]

Best exercise science videos on youtube, thanks for sharing. :)

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@isacr2652]

Really glad i found your channel! This is exactly the type of content that the youtube training community lacks. No gimmicks or unnecessary rants, just quality content the whole video thru and references clearly shown and linked. All substance baby !!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you Isac, I'm doing my best to keep it that way!

[@HylianHanzou]

I really love the content you make! I am waiting for your Middle Splits videos and also I am curious about tendon strengthenig, I hope to see you grow in this platform!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Roberto thank you, I appreciate your support! The middle split is coming in my course on udemy, which I hope to publish within the next 20 days!

[@breathe4778]

Love your content. It's so great to have the science on fitness be presented so well! It's the science that makes me come back every time! Thank you

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thanks for the support! More videos like this are coming!

[@zechordlord]

Πολύ καλό κανάλι και πληροφορίες, ευχαριστούμε!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

🙏😁

[@dnullify100]

A stretching routine would be good indeed. I think most people watching will probably have tight hip adductor groups, weak glute meds, and very tight front hips. Would be nice to have a cohesive routine to address this. I myself have been doing a lot of 90/90 shinbox work, but my problem is that I get tightness and pain in my high hip, rear for some reason I cant pin down. My TFL also seems to be getting strained from all this stretching and mobilization

[@defres15]

Great material man!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you!

[@adriancorral3794]

Amazing content! You have a new subscriber sir

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you Adrian!

[@tomshahriari6602]

Fantastic!

[@milomango302]

Great information, thanks a lot :))

[@eleonorakoll]

your content is so good!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you Eleonora!

[@bonniechen295]

Subscribed! Also watched your splits video and it helped me achieve an inch closer to my goals already :) Hopefully you can talk about increasing spine flexibility, whether they are beneficial/harmful to attempt depending on your age. If not, keep up the great content anyways! xx

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thanks for the support! I will make a course about how to get flexible in general and will include spine flexibility. I hope to make this by the end of winter.

[@Ray-jg5dj]

Quality content.

[@YiannisChristoulas]

🙏

[@YoungMule]

Excellent video! I feel silly that I never considered training flexibility until now.

[@88goncalo]

This is brilliant, thank you for this excellent work. I have a question about stretching, regarding the sport of jiu-jitsu, there are very few study’s about this. I would like to know which muscles are more important to gain flexibility on. If anyone could help me I would really appreciate it ☺️

[@johnsmith-wx5fb]

Saved the video.

[@alejandroalvarezgracia1879]

This is so far one of the best channel of flexibility training. Could you make one about how to improve shoulder mobility? (to one day be able to do a handstand properly)

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you! I will make a course that will contain all the principles and exercises for getting flexible in any part of your body. I will announce it on my instagram page yiannis_christoulas as soon as I publish it😁

[@coolbian513]

u r good guy

[@Sayakdipta]

Hi coach, completed the side split with your video. ❤️ Much love.

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Really happy to hear that! Congratulations!

[@Sayakdipta]

All credits to you sir. Stay safe

[@monetpinkett888]

When you do the side split do you do the same exercises as forward? Like when you put your leg up in front of you and stretch forward do you do that as well? or do you put it sideways and stretch to the side?

[@hyseah2000]

I am glad I watched this video. It would explain why I hardly get muscle soreness these days. I used to get sore muscles easily but recently when I started daily yoga during the lockdown, my muscles never ache for more than 24 hours no matter how hard I train.... whether it is weights or cardio.

[@lsucuqui]

I just subscribed, you’re videos are very informative. I hope to see a flexibility/stretching routine video from you, that would be great.

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you!

[@jerichacher8757]

I also subscribed to your channel! It is very informative! As a fellow scientist, I believe in research! Cheers to more quality videos!

[@wildgypsybee]

But what if you get DOMS from stretching? Yoga etc

[@alexistsao2508]

thanks for the video! can you make a video for flexible shoulders or range of motion? (touching your hands from the back)

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you! I probably will in the future

[@veronicaspyridonos608]

I love your videos because they're based on real studies, not just the bro science clickbait type that are all over youtube! Thanks for your videos, keep at it!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Thank you Veronica I really appreciate your words😁

[@manmeetpoonia13]

Hellow sir . I am Manmeet ... I have some questions regarding strength training in sports ... Can you please help me to improve my knowledge regarding that topic

[@shell9918]

can you do a video about getting in shape explained by science?

[@YiannisChristoulas]

I will!

[@VillaBody]

what means "bout"?

[@wilrockq1065]

This is great. But in addition to the studies, you should always rely on your own knowledge and experience. Has stretching helped you? My personal experience over many years is that stretching has helped reduce doms significantly, and also contributed significantly to increases in strength. I’ve found that sore muscles are not strong muscles, but once I stretch for a prolonged period and doms subsided my strength improved a lot. Use your common sense, and don’t let anyone tell you what you experience- what you know - isn’t true.

[@debanjanamallick6568]

Sir I'm from india,and my name is Debanjana (Debbie),I would like to let you know that I learn karate and for that I just got an injury on my hamstring while performing a split on my left leg..now what's happening is I can really bend properly on that leg or lift my leg higher for kicks..can you please tell me how to fix that so that I can make it flexible again..

[@agentfalafel5059]

I don't want to reduce soreness though. I love it

[@Adam-rb5gl]

I always felt that the best way to recover after a hard workout was a light workout the next day. Just enough to get the blood circulating through the sore area, but not enough to stress it. Is there any evidence to back that up?

[@SlavaEremenko]

A long walk of cardio would do it

[@rahafbaaqeel4751]

I usually feel knee pain when i stretch but i want to get flexible , Please make a video on reasons of knee pain during stretching and how to reduce it 🙆🏽‍♀️

[@dubstep4dogs]

The muscles of your knee are tight and need stretched. As I have kept up stretching and staying active my knee popping, soreness, and flexibility have improved greatly. Keep it up, but remember that it's a process and stretching a few times isn't going to have the lasting effect you are looking for.

[@Liierenify]

Another reason could be that you stretch tight muscles for example in the hip, and because they wont give the knee takes the pressure. If you have knee pain activate the surrounding muscles to protect the knee.

[@SkepticalTeacher]

I had doms last week, and I went back to the gym the following day and did some more (boxing) and came hobbling home! Lol. I then decided I HAD to start stretching, so I found a video by Anna McNulty, ten minutes long, and followed that. It was so painful at first, but I gritted my teeth and got through it, and even though stretching was initially more painful, it actually reduced the pain in the short term. The following morning, I had better range of motion than the previous day in the joints and muscles I had stretched, I felt "looser", and the doms was also a lot less noticeable, even though I had exercised the previous day with doms!

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Yes Rebecca, it is very possible that stretching relieved some part of your pain.

[@mojojojo7515]

Smaller waist video for women?

[@Pa_Nu]

🙏🍀

[@aquahorns8995]

Hey man, could you make a video on how to increase/attain maximum possible height in teenagers? It's one of the most disputed topics on the internet, I'd love to hear it from my most trusted man!

[@soyanchd5439]

The videos are good, but the audio is very uncomfortable to listen to, your mic need a serious update

[@YiannisChristoulas]

Oh man, I just watched this video again and you are right. The audio of my videos back then was bad. I think you’ll notice some improvement if you watch any of my latest ones

[@_scumbrisket3172]

Huh?

[@abdoz.7021]

as a med student, ur channel feels home to me

[@andreasdm8193]

Allakse to onoma su ine diskolo ke den su meni sto myalo

[@AliKhan-pn7rs]

Hindi Video

[@SmartMoneyRyan]

Pp

[@jaylynnwashington9464]

Happy 100th anniversary to the USSR 🇷🇺🪆