Stretching: The Truth

For maximum benefit, you should hold a stretch for 30 to 60 seconds.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ten to 30 seconds will do you. Don't forget to breathe, okay? Three days a week is good, seven's better.

Stretching is so thoroughly understood and without controversy that none of the declarations of truth and falsehood above will be disputed in e-mails sent to move@washpost.com by exercise physiologists, sports doctors, personal trainers, PE teachers and articulate graduate students.

Demonstrably false.

If done regularly and carefully, stretching can increase your joints' range of motion, contribute to improved athletic performance, nourish muscle tissue, improve coordination and posture, and permit you to do, without grimacing, things like turning your head when you drop a quarter and getting out of your car to pump gas. And if you want a simple book illustrating dozens of good, safe stretches, get Bob Anderson's "Stretching, 20th Anniversary Edition" (Shelter Publications).

True. Good. You finally got one.

No chat this week. Join us again on Tuesday, July 18, at http://www.washingtonpost.com .

-- Craig Stoltz