Practical Recommendations on Stretching Exercise: A Delphi Consensus Statement of International Research Experts
by Konstantin Warneke, Eleftherios Kellis, Anthony J. Blazevich, David G. Behm, et al. · Journal of Sport and Health Science
A 2025 consensus paper in which 20 international stretching researchers agreed on definitions and recommendations across eight areas. Readers finish knowing what stretching does and does not achieve for range of motion, strength, hypertrophy, stiffness, injury risk, posture, and recovery.
More resources on Flexibility & Mobility
Yoga Biomechanics: Stretching Redefined
A biomechanics text applying load, tissue adaptation, and stretch-tolerance research to posture-based movement practice. Readers will be able to evaluate common flexibility claims, judge when passive stretching is appropriate, and design practices around tissue loading rather than tradition. Serves the large share of learners who arrive at flexibility through yoga and stretching practice, and it is the rare book in that space that argues from load-and-adaptation science and explicitly retires myths (permanent tissue lengthening, 'safe' alignment rules, passive stretching as a cure-all). Bridges the research entries to real practice for a different audience than Laughlin's method book.
The Science and Physiology of Flexibility and Stretching: Implications and Applications in Sport Performance and Health (2nd Edition)
Routledge's 2024 second edition surveying the physiology and psychology of flexibility, with chapters on stretching modes, foam rolling, vibration, warm-up design, injury, and resistance training as a range-of-motion tool. The reference text for the research literature.
Discussing Conflicting Explanatory Approaches in Flexibility Training Under Consideration of Physiology: A Narrative Review
An open-access review comparing the competing explanations for flexibility gains: increased stretch tolerance, altered neural response, and structural change such as sarcomerogenesis. Readers will be able to reason about why range of motion improves and which training methods produce it.