Runners get injured. How quickly we recover from injuries depends largely on how we rehabilitate the injury. You may already be familiar with the immediate process: RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).

But what about stretching? Should you stretch an injured muscle? If so, why, when and how?

Why stretching after an injury is necessary

The main reason we get injured is through over-training, but over-training in itself will not generally damage a muscle. When a muscle is injured, it's usually caused by lack of flexibility. So it only makes sense to restore the original flexibility and then improve on it.

As runners, we are continually facing a compromise between flexibility and strength. As our muscles grow stronger, they naturally lose flexibility, so we need to work continually to maintain or increase our flexibility. Increasing flexibility will not cause us to lose strength, but the reverse is true.

I have recently been recovering from a pulled hamstring caused, I know, by over-training and lack of flexibility in my hamstrings. Most runners (especially men) have tight hamstrings, but mine are really tight. It's not that they are particularly strong: just tight!

My range of motion was reduced from its normal 75-80% to 0%! (I didn't make this up – this came from my physical therapist.) The only way to get it back to a functional level was through stretching.

When to start stretching

Aggressively stretching an injured muscle will only aggravate the problem, so we need to know when to start stretching. Depending on how serious the damage is, this is the time to consider physical therapy. A therapist can guide you in how and when to start stretching a pulled or torn muscle: all I can do is give general guidelines.

After the immediate trauma (generally about 72 hours after), the RICE treatment will be modified by alternating ice and heat. Always finish with ice, by the way, to avoid further injury caused by excessive blood flow to the injured area. The ice reduces inflammation and the heat aids the circulation in taking away the detritus from the injury.

Once you are past that initial period, you can start gentle stretching. The key word is “gentle”: let pain be your guide. With the passage of time, you will find that it becomes less painful to stretch, and you can increase the depth of the stretch without causing further damage.

The best time to stretch is after you have warmed up, so as soon as you are able to start exercising again, stretch after exercise. At first, this may be walking, biking or swimming, depending on the injury and the opportunities you have. Later, after you are able to start running, it will be after running, but don't delay your stretching just because you are not exercising. The sooner you can start, the quicker will be your recovery.

Stretch every day. If you can find time to stretch more than once a day, do it. Your aim is to get back to your training as soon as possible.

How to stretch

The normal rule I use for stretching (15 seconds easy, 15 seconds developmental) does not apply here. You are stretching with a different purpose in mind: rehabilitation. If you have a physical therapist, let them guide you, but otherwise follow my general guidelines.

You will feel some pain when you stretch an injured muscle, but do not let it go beyond 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. (One is a slight discomfort, 10 is the most pain you can stand.) The secret is to ease very gently into the stretch until you start to feel some pain, and then hold it if you can, or else back off a bit.

Stretch for 20 seconds, then relax for 10 seconds. Repeat, going deeper this time. Five stretches like this will be sufficient that you will definitely feel the benefit at the end.

Summary

You will get injured (we all do!) and how soon you can get back to running will depend in part on your stretching program. Start as soon as you can, stretch as often as you can, and go as deep as you can. Use five repetitions of 20 seconds as your guide.

Good luck with your rehabilitation!