Does stretching after exercise reduce muscle soreness?

Short answer

No. Stretching after exercise cut next-day soreness by only about 1 point out of 100, and recent analyses found no difference from just resting in soreness or strength recovery.

Does stretching after exercise reduce muscle soreness?
'Stretch after training → looser muscles → less soreness' — does this formula hold?
People often say you have to stretch after a workout or you will hurt more the next day. We checked whether a cool-down stretch really cuts soreness.
It went down, by 1 point out of 100
The effect of post-exercise stretching was close to 0
A Cochrane review that pooled 12 studies found stretching after exercise cut next-day soreness by an average of 1 point on a 100-point scale. Stretching before exercise cut it by 0.5 points. Results were similar from half a day to 3 days after exercise.
A big trial of 2,377 people found 4 points
Statistically lower, but too small to feel
In a trial of 2,377 people included in that review, those who stretched before and after exercise had peak soreness over 1 week 4 points lower out of 100. The authors called this very small and concluded stretching does not produce a meaningful drop in soreness.
Recent studies reach the same conclusion
No difference from just resting in soreness or strength
A 2021 analysis of 10 trials with 229 people compared post-exercise stretching with simply resting. Soreness and strength recovery at 24, 48 and 72 hours were no different. A 2025 analysis of 15 studies with 465 people also found no difference in soreness, strength, performance or flexibility.
Then what did reduce soreness?
Massage, compression, water immersion and light exercise
A 2018 analysis of 99 studies found light exercise, massage, compression garments, water immersion and cooling reduced soreness, while stretching made no change. Massage was the most effective.
Pooling 863 trials gave the same ranking
Stretching lagged behind for soreness
A 2025 study combining 29 reviews and 863 trials placed cooling, massage, compression and taping among the methods that reduced soreness. Stretching, along with exercise therapy and electrical stimulation, did not make the group that reduced soreness.
Bottom line: stretching is not a soreness remedy
The formula breaks at 'looser muscles → less soreness'
Post-exercise stretching cut soreness by only 1 to 4 points out of 100, and strength recovered the same as with rest. For soreness, massage or light exercise works better. Stretching works as its own session for flexibility.