To Stretch or Not to Stretch?

[Mey]

I just read this on health tips:

Apparently, stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of leg injury during workouts.

Australian researchers recruited 1,538 men in the army and randomly assigned them to stretch or non-stretch groups.

Over the course of 40 sessions of physical training in 12 weeks, both groups started with warm-up exercises, but the stretch group also did additional 20-second stretches of the main leg muscles for a total of five minutes of stretching.

The researchers did not find a significant difference in the number of leg injuries reported between the stretch and non-stretch groups.

What did make a difference was the men's level of fitness and age.

The five-minute stretching time used in this study may have been too short to result in benefits; still, the best way to prevent injury of any kind is to exercise consistently enough to stay fit.

So does anyone have any opinions about this ?

Any members in the medical field that can help us?