Don't Forget to Stretch!
LilKoko91
Posts: 11 Member
It is SO important to stretch before, and after a workout. Your muscles need a proper stretching exercise routine, not only will you prevent injury by helping your joints move to their full range of motion. Stretching also increases blood flow to the muscle, and prepares your body for the exercise you are about to do. STRETCH!
I was very sore after a few days of exercise and this video was great!
https://youtu.be/DDkmGap-BSQ
I was very sore after a few days of exercise and this video was great!
https://youtu.be/DDkmGap-BSQ 1
Replies
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actually no, you are not supposed to stretch your muscles before you have warmed them up...10
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I was told not to stretch beforehand. Warm up first,stretch afterwards.8
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I have never stretched before exercise...?2
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Dynamic stretching before...static stretching after.12
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Never stretched before exercise. I don't think it makes any difference. Yoga is nice to improve flexibility overall, though.2
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I have sciatica and chronic back pain. What I've found works best for me is to warm up until I break a light sweat, then targeted back and hamstring stretches, regular workout, cool down, and then full-body stretching. If I miss any of these steps, I'm hurty afterwards.3
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Stretching actually decreases your mobility and flexibility for about 15 minutes. Stretch afterwards, warm-up before.2
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Stretching isn't a necessity for good health. While one SHOULD try to be a flexible as they can for more range of motion, there's a fallacy that stretching prevents injuries. Injuries of any type usually happen from sudden movement, impact or over exertion of a muscle or joint. And those injuries end up being tears of some time to a ligament, tendon or even the muscle and stretching can't prevent that.
As mentioned, you don't use stretching to warm up unless it's dynamic stretching and then static stretch later after a workout.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Eh. Being hyper mobile one of the worst things I can do is stretch. Most of my mobility work is actually stabilization work. The less I stretch the stronger and more stable my joints are.2
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Muscleflex79 wrote: »actually no, you are not supposed to stretch your muscles before you have warmed them up...
Muscles are almost 100 degrees F, which is quite warm. Most other mammals stretch whenever they feel the need, without doing a cardio warmup prior. Just saying.
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Well I enjoy a short stretch session or foam rolling session before a workout. Just sitting on the floor for a few minutes to get out some kinks feels good. I really don't think there's a wrong or a right, just do what you need to do to feel ready to workout.1
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Stretching isn't a necessity for good health. While one SHOULD try to be a flexible as they can for more range of motion, there's a fallacy that stretching prevents injuries. Injuries of any type usually happen from sudden movement, impact or over exertion of a muscle or joint. And those injuries end up being tears of some time to a ligament, tendon or even the muscle and stretching can't prevent that.
As mentioned, you don't use stretching to warm up unless it's dynamic stretching and then static stretch later after a workout.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Music to my ears. I hate stretching and I get injured way too often. Still did not want to believe that stretching could have prevented those injuries. Do you have a source by chance?
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I actually love to stretch and have a personal goal to do a lot more of it this year. Love how I feel when I'm done.1
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Stretching was very important when I did gymnastics and ballet; we had to stretch before and during our workouts. Now, I do very few stretches, mostly what is part of the workout video itself. I have lost a lot of flexibility. I need to get some of it back! I'm thinking of adding a few minutes of extra stretching after some yoga once a week.1
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Dynamic stretching before...static stretching after.
Yup, this is what I've read everywhere lately and it makes lots of sense to me.1 -
I have to warm up and stretch before I exercise or I'll cramp in my ankles, hips, or shoulders (depending of what we're doing). I'm terrible about stretching afterward though.1
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depends on the exercise and the intensity i guess, but before my runs all i do is walk for 5 minutes at a brisk pace. After my runs,i stretch my arms thoroughly,and i do a couple of leg stretches too, together with a 5 minute cooldown. I went from 0 to 10k this way and have had no injuries yet, so it works for me.1
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I never stretch, but I do a warm up....cool down. (touch wood haven't ever had any injuries in my 4 years of consistent working out)2
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I use to stretch b4 workouts. Took too long and it didn't help (or hurt). So, it was (for me) just a waste of time.
All I do is warmup doing a 3 set reverse pyramid below my target wt and then just go for it. Just fine doing only this.3 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Dynamic stretching before...static stretching after.
If you plan on stretching before/ after, agreed.1 -
You can pick just about any one from google. Type in "stretching doesn't prevent injuries" and there are lots of articles with actual studies to back it up.goldthistime wrote: »Stretching isn't a necessity for good health. While one SHOULD try to be a flexible as they can for more range of motion, there's a fallacy that stretching prevents injuries. Injuries of any type usually happen from sudden movement, impact or over exertion of a muscle or joint. And those injuries end up being tears of some time to a ligament, tendon or even the muscle and stretching can't prevent that.
As mentioned, you don't use stretching to warm up unless it's dynamic stretching and then static stretch later after a workout.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Music to my ears. I hate stretching and I get injured way too often. Still did not want to believe that stretching could have prevented those injuries. Do you have a source by chance?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
1 -
Well stretching was for flexibility to perform the exercises of gymnastics and ballet. My wife still dances (ballroom) and was able to do the splits in high school. She can't do them now, but I've asked her "Honey, when in your daily life do you apply doing a split?"DancingMoosie wrote: »Stretching was very important when I did gymnastics and ballet; we had to stretch before and during our workouts. Now, I do very few stretches, mostly what is part of the workout video itself. I have lost a lot of flexibility. I need to get some of it back! I'm thinking of adding a few minutes of extra stretching after some yoga once a week.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Thank you all for your comments and feedback. I hope this was helpful for some.
I agree with many of you that stretching before or after a workout is based on the type of workout you do. I guess I should have implied that, but yes; if you're simply walking, lightly jogging, or strength-training, there really isn't a need to stretch before, but I think if you're about to walk into a boxing match, you should be warned up. I agree with you all on that one.
I am in a Bootcamp class that consists mostly of cardio/tabata/hiit/and strength training. We don't stretch before the class begins, only after, and I think it's mostly to get our heartrates back to normal. There are many people in the class who don't stretch afterwards and that is mainly why I posted the video.
Either way, working out is important and >>based on the type of exercise you do,<< stretching to warm up your body, cool it down, and to prevent a muscle cramp, before and/or after (your choice), is just as important to me.
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Thank you all for your comments and feedback. I hope this was helpful for some.
I agree with many of you that stretching before or after a workout is based on the type of workout you do. I guess I should have implied that, but yes; if you're simply walking, lightly jogging, or strength-training, there really isn't a need to stretch before, but I think if you're about to walk into a boxing match, you should be warned up. I agree with you all on that one.
I am in a Bootcamp class that consists mostly of cardio/tabata/hiit/and strength training. We don't stretch before the class begins, only after, and I think it's mostly to get our heartrates back to normal. There are many people in the class who don't stretch afterwards and that is mainly why I posted the video.
Either way, working out is important and >>based on the type of exercise you do,<< stretching to warm up your body, cool it down, and to prevent a muscle cramp, before and/or after (your choice), is just as important to me.
I don't think anyone is/was disagreeing with you. It's just important to point out that there are two types of stretching (dynamic vs. static). Dynamic stretching prior to exercise, static stretching after.
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Well stretching was for flexibility to perform the exercises of gymnastics and ballet. My wife still dances (ballroom) and was able to do the splits in high school. She can't do them now, but I've asked her "Honey, when in your daily life do you apply doing a split?"DancingMoosie wrote: »Stretching was very important when I did gymnastics and ballet; we had to stretch before and during our workouts. Now, I do very few stretches, mostly what is part of the workout video itself. I have lost a lot of flexibility. I need to get some of it back! I'm thinking of adding a few minutes of extra stretching after some yoga once a week.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Really? What if you're in a fight with a bad guy and your water cooler gets spilled all over the floor. And what if the bad guy decided to throw a bare electric cord into the water. Then what are you gonna do?
Some people just don't think of these things.
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I do thai boxing classes. I used to static stretch before and found once in class my muscles would feel really tight. Now I just foam roll, then kick the bag a bit to warm up before class. I have a super hard time kicking with my right leg ( as in turning the hip over into the kick) so I am going to work on warming that side up a bit more. Think my glutes are a bit tight.1
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You can pick just about any one from google. Type in "stretching doesn't prevent injuries" and there are lots of articles with actual studies to back it up.
The problem with those studies is they pick the stretches arbitrarily, at random. That's like randomly loosening strings on a guitar, and concluding that loosening strings should never be done before playing, because it sounds awful. Yes, random loosening should be avoided, but intentional loosening of overly tight strings can improve results. There are many cases of an overly tight muscle negatively affecting exercise form.. for example..
- tight calves causing the feet to splay outward on squats
- tight upper trapezius elevating the shoulders on rows
- tight adductors causing the leg to drift inward (adduct) on lunges
- tight peroneals contributing to overpronation when running
Stretching those tight "strings" before exercising can make a noticeable improvement in form, which in turn can prevent injuries.
Granted, the average person isn't skilled at self-diagnosing which muscles are negatively affecting their form, so it's a lot easier to tell them "don't stretch before exercise". But sometimes, static stretching before exercise is warranted. 0
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