Stretching

[Marthenil]

I'm kinda new to working out (in practice, in theory I've been readin up a long time now ).
Been doing 3 times a week Body Pump and 3 times a week a 40 min cardio along with some abs and back excercises.
Anyway, to the point. Of those 4 months that I've been doing Body Pump I skipped stretching about 6 times because I was late. The day after I was in a lot of pain (I generally don't get any pain after the workouts), so I've learnt my lesson. Never skip stretching I hate anecdotes as much as the next person, but this is just my 2 cents.

[Dtloweca]

Saying to just warm up before a workout in place of stretching at all, whether its once a week or every workout, is like having a car with misaligned tires and just driving to fix it. FYI I'm not trying to downplay the importance of warming up either.

[Mongo42]

Last thing I read was that stretching before a workout can elongate the muscles to the point of negatively affecting how the muscle fibers fire. Usually I and others will do a warmup set with a significantly lighter weight than our first work set to both encourage blood flow into those muscles and practice the form for that lift. It's like doing practice swings before a game of golf.

Post workout stretching can prevent muscle shortening, that "knotted up" feeling, and potentially stretch the fascia around the muscles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascia Stretching the fascia is said to allow the muscle room to heal and grow more easily. Could be wrong, but that's the info I work off of.

[Velaniz]

Last thing I read was that stretching before a workout can elongate the muscles to the point of negatively affecting how the muscle fibers fire. Usually I and others will do a warmup set with a significantly lighter weight than our first work set to both encourage blood flow into those muscles and practice the form for that lift. It's like doing practice swings before a game of golf.

There are some instances where stretching a particular muscle group can be beneficial, but this is only if you want that particular muscle group to be used less in a workout. If someone felt they weren't isolating their lats enough in a pull up, for instance, and that their biceps always did most of the work, stretching the biceps a lot before they attempted pull ups would indeed put more strain on other muscle groups, especially the lats.

[Deleted]

Warm up, DON'T scretch b4 workout, u're gonna lower your strength and increase the chance of an injury

[topmiamiplasticsurgery]

Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon (or muscle group) is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone.] The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and range of motion. Stretching is also used therapeutically to alleviate cramps.
In its most basic form, stretching is a natural and instinctive activity; it is performed by humans and many animals. It can be accompanied by yawning. Stretching often occurs instinctively after waking from sleep, after long periods of inactivity, or after exiting confined spaces and areas.
Increasing flexibility through stretching is one of the basic tenets of physical fitness. It is common for athletes to stretch before and after exercise in order to reduce injury and increase performance.
Hatha yoga involves the stretching of major muscle groups, some of which require a high level of flexibility to perform, for example the lotus position. Stretching can strengthen muscles, and in turn strong muscles are important to stretching safely and effectively.