Stretching And Warming Up Are Not The Same

What’s The Difference Between Stretching And Warming Up?

Warming up and stretching are not the same. Even though we all believe they are more or less the same, they’re not because warming up is there to prepare you for a physical activity, and stretching is there to help your muscles regenerate after this workout. So, first do the warm up,like jogging in place, then exercise, then do the stretching. Stretching cold muscles is not a good idea and can lead to an injury.

The results in searching for the benefits of stretching are mixed. Some researchers say that stretching is almost useless for the body, or with a minimum of benefits. Others researchers have found out that stretching improves muscular coordination, enhances the level of blood circulation and reduces level of muscle tissue tension. You don’t have to listen to anybody, just try it and see the results.

When you stretch focus on the muscles that were involved in the exercise that ended. For example if you are going to do some exercises for you legs, the stretching should be done to your legs muscles. It is very important to stretch both sides of the body and to do it slowly and smoothly.

You must know how long to do the stretching. Don’t do it until you feel pain because you will experience a degree of muscle soreness for a few days. The stretching must be done until you feel tension in the involved muscles. Stop when you feel this.

When to avoid stretching? Here are the answers: when you have an already strained muscle or ligament, when a sharp pain is felt in a joint or muscle, and when a joint or a muscle is infected, inflamed or injured.

There are four kinds of stretching: ballistic, dynamic, static and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. The last two kinds are for flexibility and the ballistic is not recommended. We all do the dynamic stretch, the supplemental part of an individual’s warm up routine.

The American College of Sports Medicine advises us how to do stretching: 2 to 3 days per week, holding each stretch for 10-30 seconds and performing 3-4 repetitions per stretch.