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Stretching before or after a workout: Only one of them is right
Even though most of us probably don't work on it enough, flexibility is vital to overall health, and it's especially important in connection to your exercise routine. While all stretching may seem the same, there are important distinctions about what stretching routines to perform at different points of your workout.
Working out already feels like an onerous task, and the thousands of opinions on the internet about how to exercise in the correct way aren't helping. You've probably heard tons of conflicting advice surrounding your workout routine, and when there's voices shouting in all directions around you it's far easier to just give up and push off the gym for another day.
One part of exercising I often hear disagreements on is stretching. Some people are vehemently opposed to the idea, saying that the practice is bunk and a waste of time. Others swear by it, believing that stretching is vitally important and helps ward off all kinds of injuries. Even for those in the pro-stretching camp, there are differing opinions on whether to stretch before or after your workout.
I'm here to dispel the confusion once and for all and explain how exactly stretching should fit into your exercise habits so that you can finally get back to what's really important -- actually working out.
(Score: 1) by Jay on Tuesday October 22 2019, @02:53PM
Digging into the article, it matches my experience pretty well.
Like most of us, I have an 8hr sit-down job. Before I work out, I absolutely need a bit of a warm-up stretch. I need to get some deep knee bends in. My hamstrings tugged on a little. My shoulders pulled in various directions and some of the stiffness shaken out. This light dynamic stretching makes all the difference. My pre-workout stretching is maybe 2 minutes, tops. Just enough to get things moving, and unfrozen from a day without enough moving around.
Post-workout, it really depends on whether or not I've blasted muscles to the point of seizing up and failing. There are times when I've worked hard but not to the point of failure. I don't really see (or feel) a benefit to stretching then. There are other times when I've got muscles just seized up and inoperable. Then some slow, deep stretching makes a world of difference, as I coax them to relax and unwind.