Resistance Training Cuts Injuries in Half
Exercise professional · creator of the Letz method
Short answer
A meta-analysis of controlled trials found that resistance training programs reduced sports injuries to less than half, whereas stretching showed no significant protective effect. This result represents the exact opposite of what the conventional wisdom of the sidelines typically suggests.
The finding
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials compared strategies used to prevent sports injuries. Resistance training programs reduced injuries to less than half. Stretching alone showed no significant protective effect.
It is one of the most useful and most overlooked findings in sports medicine, likely because it contradicts a practice ritualized for decades.
What to do with stretching
The finding does not say that stretching is harmful. It says that stretching is not an injury prevention strategy, and that treating it as such diverts attention from what works.
Warming up is a separate matter with its own supporting evidence: preparing tissues and raising body temperature before exertion is a reasonable, low-cost practice. What does not hold up is the specific promise of injury prevention through static stretching.
An honest limitation
Reducing risk on average across a group is not the same as predicting who will get injured. Training load models do not predict individual injury with useful precision, and presenting individual risk as a probability is selling a certainty that does not exist.
Regarding equipment, another debunked myth is worth noting: machines are not inherently safer than free weights. The choice depends on context, goals, and execution, not on a safety hierarchy.
Frequently asked questions
Does stretching before a workout prevent injury?
The meta-analysis found no significant protective effect from stretching. What showed a clear effect was resistance training.
Should I not warm up, then?
Warming up is a different matter and has its own supporting evidence. What does not hold up is the specific promise of injury prevention through static stretching.
Are machines safer than free weights?
Not inherently. The choice depends on context, goals, and execution, not on a fixed safety hierarchy.
Registry rules cited here
- Resistance training for injury preventionStrengthening programs substantially reduced sports injuries; stretching alone showed no such effect.
- Warm-up and stretchingWarming up improves performance in most cases; prolonged static stretching before training can reduce strength and power, whereas dynamic stretching does not impair performance.
- Training load does not predict individual injuryRecent training load can provide context for workout decisions, but simple load ratios do not support reliable individual injury prediction.
- Free weights, machines, and bodyweightFree weights and machines produce similar strength and hypertrophy gains when directly compared; strength gains are specific to the trained modality.
Sources cited
- Lauersen, Bertelsen & Andersen, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2014 DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2013-092538
- Fradkin, Zazryn & Smoliga, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2010 DOI 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c643a0
- Behm et al., Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2016 DOI 10.1139/apnm-2015-0235
- Maupin et al., Sports Medicine, 2020
- Haugen et al., BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2023 DOI 10.1186/s13102-023-00713-4
Informational content about training and nutrition. It is not a recommendation, prescription or adjustment of any medication, and it does not replace assessment by your doctor or dietitian.