stretching

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Bre&CJ'sMom
Bre&CJ'sMom Posts: 17
in Fitness and Exercise
When are you supposed to stretch? Someone told me to do it before I started working out, someone else said that I should do it in the middle of my workout, and another person said at the end. Or does it matter?

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  • Bre&CJ'sMom
    Bre&CJ'sMom Posts: 17
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    When are you supposed to stretch? Someone told me to do it before I started working out, someone else said that I should do it in the middle of my workout, and another person said at the end. Or does it matter?
  • LonelyPilgrim
    LonelyPilgrim Posts: 255 Member
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    I can't imagine doing it in the middle, but I do it before and after. just briefly, I'm not a huge stretcher.

    however when I go to my spin class we only stretch after class

    when I go to my core class, we warm up with some different stretches and mild cardio, do all of our core work, and then stretch for 15 min at the end.

    it seems to work for me! :)
  • MsLadybug
    MsLadybug Posts: 55
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    Stretching is awesome. Definately at the beginning to warm your body up and at the end to release any pent up tension from the exercise. Whether you do it in the middle i guess to depends on the exercise you are doing and how your body feels.

    I bellydance so there are times when I've been drilling some moves and I need to counter-stretch or shimmy it out. I think its important to listen to your body.
  • AlbertSchwartz
    AlbertSchwartz Posts: 810
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    Stretching should be done after you warm up, do a little light work on the cycling machine for 10 minutes or so, then stretch, then your ready to to tackle the gym at top speed. Once finished, stretch again.

    Its very important to stetch before excersising to prevent injury and equally important to stretch afterwards to maintain suppleness

    Al
  • greekgyrl02
    greekgyrl02 Posts: 123
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    You should stretch after the workout always not before...when you stretch before your taking some of the elasticity of the muscle fibers away and relaxing them which could actually prevent you from doing heavier weights or faster movements. You want your muscles to fire fast and when you stretch first it takes that away a little. Thats what i was taught and thats how I workout.

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