Get The Best Out Of Your Workout. Stretching Before Exercise?
Do you stretch your muscles before you exercise or workout? I understand we all want to Get The Best Out of Exercise. Lets face it, sometimes that can be tricky! Conflicting theories on how to maximize your workouts would stretch anyone to the limit. Here is some information on stretching and whether you should be doing it as part of your Warm – Up.
Should I Perform Stretching Before Exercise As Part Of My Warm-Up?
Many people perform stretches before running out on to a court or field. Sport scientists say there is no evidence that stretching reduces the risk of injury. What’s interesting is it can undermine performance, particularly in sports requiring bursts of power and sudden changes in direction.
Static stretches reduce muscle stiffness, thereby slowing the speed at which they can transfer force and reducing the power of their contractions. One review found that pre-exercise static stretching such as pushing against a wall or holding leg stretches reduced muscle strength by 5.4%.
In general its almost always better to stretch after a workout. Use stretching as a tool to recover, not get started or warm up. Stretching increases the range of motion in joints, but it has its biggest effect in muscles that are already warm and so is better done after exercise. So my answer is no, stretching should NOT be done as part of your warm-up.
Put Stretching in the Right Place
The question isn’t whether stretching is “good” or “bad.” The better question is what are you trying to accomplish, and when are you doing it?
Before a workout, your priority should be preparing your body for the work ahead. Get moving, increase your body temperature, take your joints through appropriate ranges of motion, and rehearse the movements you’re about to perform. Stretching before exercise can have a place, but simply holding a few stretches isn’t the same thing as performing an effective warm-up.
This is exactly why individualized training matters. Through Personal Training, In-Home Personal Training, Strength and Conditioning, and Sports Performance Training, we can help you understand not only what exercises to do, but why you’re doing them and how they fit together.
Lake Country Training works with adults and youth athletes throughout Oconomowoc, Delafield, Hartland, Pewaukee, Waukesha, and the greater Lake Country, Wisconsin area.
There are plenty of fitness rules people follow simply because they’ve always heard them. Don’t train on autopilot. Understand the purpose, then do the work.
