Stretching/Flexibility/Warm-Up

By Shawn Kocab

Far to often the warm-up and stretching are overlooked as an essential part of one’s training. Warming-up and stretching should be separated as two different routines. Time and time again I have seen people stretch as a warm-up. This can cause injuries such as strained or torn muscles. Stretching muscles while they are cold and tight can cause them to tear. By increasing the blood flow through your muscles, this increases the temperature in the muscles, which increases elasticity, hence the term “warm-up.” Think of your muscles as a brand new rubber band. If you stretch the rubber band quickly it will tear. But if you gradually stretch the rubber band a little further and further at a time, it will stretch much further then if you just stretched it as far as it can go the first time. This same principle applies to your muscles.

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Warming up, is very important before working out. You can greatly increases the chance of injury if the muscles are not lose and warm to perform the desired movements. Proper warming up can actually enhance

one’s workout. With proper preparation before exercise one can experience an slight increase in strength and definite improvement muscular endurance as well as stamina.

To properly warm-up before an exercise first it’s best to start with a general warm-up. Jogging or jumping rope is good since they loosen up the entire body by increasing the core temperature. This should be done for about 5 to 10 minutes. You should start working up a light sweat. Next you should mimic the movements you are about to perform with the use of light to no weight. For example: if you are going to do chest, doing a few sets of push-ups and light weight shoulder presses and shoulder raises is good. Or if you were to do legs, doing about 30 body weight squats and light weight lunges is good. Basically mimic the exercises you are about to do with little to no resistance.

Now it’s time to stretch. Now that your muscles are loose and warm, it is appropriate to stretch. One can’t underestimate the importance of flexibility when developing strength, power, and speed. More so then that it plays an important role for losing fat and reaching optimum fitness and health. Flexibility training decreases the occurrences of joint dysfunction, muscle imbalances, and overuse injuries. Having optimal flexibility is also practical and beneficial to everyday living.

When is it best to stretch?

A lot of people believe it is best to stretch before a workout. This is actually a little misleading. It is good to stretch before a workout to a certain extent. As mentioned above, it is important to warm-up first, but to much stretching before you lift weights can be counteractive to strength training. Stretching involves lengthening the muscles, thus causing little tears in the muscle fibers. You becomes more flexible when the muscles repair themselves and become more adaptive to the stress that is opposed upon them. Same principle as lifting weights. You break your muscles down and by repairing themselves they grow stronger. Stretching a muscle for more then 20 seconds actually makes the muscle weaker. This is counterproductive to weight lifting since you want to be strong as you can while you lift.

It is best to stretch after your workouts. This will greatly increase flexibility and reduce muscle soreness.

What are the various types of stretching?

It is important to know the differences in various methods of stretching techniques and which one’s are best to use.

Stretching can be separated into three different forms. Static, dynamic, and ballistic.

-Static stretching: involves holding a stretch for 20-45 seconds. These are controlled movements as in where you stretch to the farthest point to right before you feel pain and hold. It is important to relax and used focus breathing. This is the stretching you will use most often, especially after workouts.

-Dynamic stretching: involves movements that increases flexibility, through smooth and controlled swinging motions that take you to your limits by gradually exceeding your full range of motion. Examples would be controlled torso twist or arm swings. Dynamic stretching is most beneficial before workouts after warm-ups.

-Ballistic stretching: involves bouncing or bobbing motions. You see this far to often among people at the gym.

This method is best to be avoided. Ballistic stretching causes the muscles to tense up and tighten. This makes one more susceptible to injury.

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