Mobility work that carries over to lifting

Short stretches before lifting won't hurt you, but long static holds make you a little weaker for the next few minutes.

A 2016 review compared the main kinds of stretching done just before exercise.² Static stretching, where you hold one position, lowered performance by about 3.7 percent on average. Dynamic stretching, where you move through the range, raised it by about 1.3 percent.

The length of each hold mattered most of all. Holding each muscle for 60 seconds or more cost about 4.6 percent, while shorter holds cost about 1.1 percent.² When people did active warm-up drills after stretching, the drop mostly disappeared.

Any range you gain from one stretching session usually fades within 30 minutes, so a long stretch before lifting buys you very little.²

Bottom line

Warm up by moving, keep any static holds under a minute, and finish with light sets of your first lift.

Lifting through a full range of motion makes you more flexible, and it makes you stronger at the same time.

In the 2021 review, flexibility gains from strength training and from stretching were about the same.¹ That held whether the joint was moved by the muscles or by an outside push. The authors note that the trials varied widely in design, so the finding is consistent but not precise.

A 2011 study gave 25 untrained adults either full-range weight training or static stretching for 5 weeks.³ Both groups improved hamstring flexibility, hip flexion and hip extension by similar amounts.

One small 2024 trial went further with the deadlift pattern.⁴ Full-range lifting and static stretching produced equally large gains on a sit-and-reach test. Only the lifting group got clearly stronger in a straight-legged deadlift pull.

Bottom line

Full-range lifting gives you the flexibility of stretching plus the strength, while stretching alone gives you only the flexibility.

Squatting deep builds more muscle and more strength at depth than squatting halfway, so the range you lift through is your best mobility work.

In a 2019 study, 17 men did either full squats or half squats twice a week for 10 weeks.⁵ Both groups grew their thigh muscles by about the same amount.

The full squat group grew their glutes and inner thigh muscles two to three times as much.⁵ They also added far more strength in the full squat. On the half squat itself, the two groups gained about the same.

It was a small study in young men. Still, the pattern is clear enough to act on, because strength grew most in the range each group trained.

Bottom line

Train the squat as deep as you can control it, because the depth itself is the mobility work.

If your ankles don't bend far enough, your knees stop bending early and tend to drift inward at the bottom of a squat.

A 2012 lab study had 30 healthy, active adults squat with and without a wedge under the front of the foot.⁶ The wedge limits how far the ankle can bend. With the wedge, people bent their knees less, their knees moved inward more, and their thigh muscles worked less.

That makes the calf and ankle the one place where a specific stretch has a clear job in the squat. Over weeks, regular static stretching does increase range.⁷ A 2024 review of 77 studies found that the amount, intensity and frequency of stretching made no clear difference to the gain.

We found no trial showing that ankle stretching itself raises squat strength. What the evidence does show is that the squat needs ankle range, and that stretching builds range over time.

Bottom line

Limited ankle range changes your whole squat, so stretch your calves after training if your knees cave at the bottom.

Rolling and long-term stretching feel good and add some range, but neither does much for how much you can lift.

In a 2019 review of 21 studies, foam rolling before exercise improved flexibility by about 4 percent and sprint speed by under 1 percent.⁸ Its effect on strength and jumping was negligible. Rolling after exercise reduced muscle soreness a little.

Long-term stretching has a small effect on strength too. A 2023 review of 41 studies found trivial to small strength gains from regular static stretching.⁹ The gains were larger in inactive people than in active ones.

Some researchers argue that long, frequent stretching can stand in for lifting. A 2024 review of 42 studies with 1,318 people found small gains in strength and muscle size.¹⁰ Its authors described stretching as "of minor effectiveness" but a possible alternative. The trials that tested both side with lifting.³⁴

Bottom line

Roll and stretch because they feel good, and lift through a full range because that's what changes your squat and deadlift.

1. 01

   Long static holds right before lifting cost you a few percent of strength for a short time.

2. 02

   Full-range lifting improves flexibility about as much as stretching, and it builds strength too.

3. 03

   Deep squats build more muscle and strength at depth than half squats.

4. 04

   Stiff ankles change your squat, so calves are the clearest target for a stretch.

5. 05

   Foam rolling and regular stretching do little for how much you can lift.