Be Sure to Stretch Before Working Out

ByLinda Kinyo

If you are the type of person who does physical activities on a regular basis, you know and understand the importance of properly stretching out. Whether you play playing sports, going for a jog, or taking karate lessons, if you don't warm up and stretch out your muscles, you face a strain, pull, or worse. When you do take the time to stretch out your muscles, your body will feel more flexible, muscle control will improve, and the range of motion will be wider.

At times, some of us stretch without even realizing we are doing so. Like when we yawn, sometimes we lift our arms, stretch our neck, or arch our backs. We also stretch instinctively after a nap or first thing after waking up in the morning. Another example is after sitting in an awkward position or being in a confined space for a given amount of time.

For professional athletes, they focus highly on taking good care of their bodies, and stretching is a basic tenet of their daily routines. Without spending ample time stretching, athletes know that they are more prone to injury. Injured athletes can have big impacts on team play, and can damper their careers if playing a solo sport.

Before stretching, it is important to warm up the muscles you intend on focusing on. If stretching the entire body from neck, to shoulders, to arms, to hips, to legs, it is a good idea to do a light jog, jumping jacks, or jump rope for 5 to 10 minutes. Remember not to push yourself during the warm up phase, wait until after fully stretching, because your muscles are much less contracted and loose at this stage.

There is a right way and a wrong way to stretch out your muscles, if done incorrectly you can do damage to muscles, nerve groups, or even bones and joints. There is often more than one way to stretch a particular muscle and gain multiple benefits, but if damage occurs connecting tendons, muscle fibers, and ligaments can inflame and leave you in quite a bit of pain.

The best advice for novice athletes seeking how to properly stretch out is to visit YouTube and look for videos from yoga and martial arts instructors, professional trainers, or known athletes doing stretching exercises. If you happen to know someone who works out or exercises a lot, you may want to ask for their advice.

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Should We Stretch Before Exercise?

Stretching is a term that is used very loosely in the fitness industry. Everybody has been taught as young kids to stretch out. I remember in 1st grade physical education, my teacher leading us through stretches before a game of kickball. When to stretch or not to stretch at all is the question you can ask yourself. For the past 13 years as a personal trainer, my fitness manager has come to me year after year saying that the stretching trends and methods are changing. For the most part, I personally will always at least warm-up my body before exercising at my correct intensity, and that's usually because of instinct and because it will help me get to my target heart rate much faster! Let's take a look at what we've been told regarding stretching, and when it's best according to current fitness standards.

At one point in time, we've all been told to stretch out before doing any kind of aerobic exercise, mainly to avoid injury, help performance, and help with muscle soreness. According to current personal training standards, there is still no proof that is convincing to support that stretching prevents muscle soreness. Muscle soreness is simply a result of muscles being worked, and fatigue being reached during your exercise routine. Muscle soreness is not actually a bad thing, proper nutrition and rest will help you get through muscle soreness.

Next, I've always been taught that stretching would help my performance as an athlete. Current information that is being taught to trainers, is that stretching before exercise has no influential impact on a person's athletic performance. I now question what coaches all over the world are teaching their high school and college teams. I know for a fact that many football coaches are still teaching to run on your toes, because it makes you faster. Coaches don't understand or care that this is extremely painful for your knees, and could shorten your career.

As a personal trainer with all my clients, I teach that a warm-up is needed, but not stretching before any type of exercise. I will explain exactly what I mean by a warm-up. The best known warmup exercise that I use with all my clients, is the "hokey pokey". The "hokey pokey" is a warm up routine that asks for every part of your body to require some kind of energy. Warming up is simply getting every body part to accept consistent blood flow. Let's not make warming up difficult, when simple things like the "hokey pokey" work well.

I've always taught clients to stretch when their workout is complete! Stretching at the end of your workout, helps to properly "cool down" and bring your heart rate back to your normal resting rate, and will also help improve range of motion.

In conclusion, stretching is best after your workout is complete, there has been no conclusive evidence showing me anything different. Please do your own research, and give me your feedback.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read an article of mine that I feel will help you to reach success. My name is Pierce Calloway, and I've been a certified personal trainer for the past 13 years. My main goal in the fitness industry is to give the best possible, most accurate fitness advice, and share the love of Jesus Christ with every one of my clients. I have an online fitness website that can be found at http://www.thebosuball.com. Thanks again for the time you've given me to share my heart.

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