We thought the answer was NO.
There is no information here on whether stretching before exercise such as playing football will reduce muscle soreness because:
- The studies they list with muscle soreness as an outcome are all laboratory studies where very precise movements are made in order to induce specific muscle soreness in specific muscles. This is not the same as running about on a football field with the relatively random use of various muscle groups over a prolonged period of time, without attention on any muscle groups whilst the game is happening.
- With regards to injury, they do not list muscle injury in one trial and the other is very non-specific.
- The participants of the studies are "fit" men so these results may not be generalisable to older (not particularly "fit") members of the population who have been told by their GP to exercise more.
- They do not tell us about athletic performance results.