Stretching

Stretching before and after work outs is important aspect of your work out and also to your recovery.

Before a work out helps to warm up, loosen and prepare your muscles for the work out. There are two types of stretches dynamic (movement) and static (non moving). You should try to do dynamic stretches first. Because it will help to warm your muscles up, prevent injury and increase your performance. ONLY once your muscles have loosened you should do some static stretches.

Doing static stretches will decrease your performance because it stretches the muscles when they are not warm will increase the risk of injuries and will decrease your performance. This is because when your muscles are warmed up they are flexible allowing them to be pushed harder return back to there normal shape. Allowing you to push them harder for longer. But if they are not warmed up they are not as flexible, resulting in a decrease in performance and a higher risk of getting an injury.

Stretching after a session will help with the recovery stage, mainly because it helps loosen the muscle and remove the lactic acid from your system. It will also make your body feel fresher so you can be better prepared for your next workout.