I've been taught two different ways by different PE teachers and there are three different ways talked about on the internet. Some of them say the other ways are wrong and can make you get hurt more. so whats the deal? what do you do?

[Edited on November 2, 2009 at 6:14 PM. Reason : mainly talking about before during or after workingout or both or all three?]

11/2/2009 6:12:49 PM

I bend till it hurts a little bit

11/2/2009 6:13:59 PM

depends on the activity i plan on participating in

11/2/2009 6:14:04 PM

stretch after you have gotten your blood pumping...stretch cold can hurt.

11/2/2009 6:14:15 PM

in class we ran a warm up lap

stretched

ran

stretched at the end

11/2/2009 6:15:23 PM

Warm-up > Stretch > Exercise > Cool-down

Although this rarely happens.

11/2/2009 6:15:52 PM

also stretching after your work out gets you more flexible

11/2/2009 6:16:50 PM

^^thats what state taught me. but i see a lot of stuff that says you only need to stretch at the very end

[Edited on November 2, 2009 at 6:17 PM. Reason : ya]

they said stretching only puts stress on your muscles and weakens them before the workout which leads to injury

[Edited on November 2, 2009 at 6:18 PM. Reason : ny times or something]

11/2/2009 6:17:23 PM

stretching is for hippies.

11/2/2009 6:17:42 PM

no, you need to stretch before your workout because you can cramp up if your muscles are tight.

[Edited on November 2, 2009 at 6:18 PM. Reason : ]

11/2/2009 6:18:00 PM

static stretching after lifting when your muscles are still pumped up will help stretch the muscle fascia and increase hypertrophy. DC training uses this principle to make muscle grow with very little volume. Static flexibility for all other intents and purposes is worthless, and trying to perform static stretches with cold muscles is more likely to injure tendons and ligaments and make them weaker.

dynamic stretching is what correlates to better physical performance, and static stretches do very little for them. Also keep in mind that being too flexible is a very real situation that can reduce the stability of your joints. Lifting through a full range of motion will ensure that your body doesn't compromise stability for flexibility.

11/2/2009 6:58:09 PM

I tend to mainly do static stretching for all my stretching (stretch and hold)

and I do a little before working out (focus more on getting the body warmed up and loose with cardio) and then more at the end (focusing on what I worked out)

11/2/2009 7:01:12 PM

when I'm teaching a fitness class, we do dynamic stretching at the beginning (incorporated into the warm-up) and static stretching at the end.

I also stretch daily and do yoga.

11/2/2009 8:49:14 PM

A solid warm-up will perform the same functions as stretching. Stretching cold is actually a good way to injure yourself.

11/2/2009 8:54:19 PM

wtf is a stetch?

11/2/2009 8:55:02 PM

I stetched myself once and ended up at the hospital

11/2/2009 8:56:49 PM

how this did not become NSFW, almost immediately, is beyond me

11/2/2009 9:03:20 PM

Quote :

"You ever see a lion limber up before it takes out a gazelle?"

11/2/2009 9:03:40 PM

Quote :

"Warm-up > Stretch > Exercise > Cool-down"

thats how i roll

11/2/2009 9:15:17 PM

dynamic before workouts (along w/ foam rolling when needed)

and static after, (and occasionally before if i'm really tight)

[Edited on November 2, 2009 at 9:27 PM. Reason : ]

11/2/2009 9:26:02 PM

what the fuck is this thread

11/2/2009 9:36:22 PM

Well technically I am suppose to stretch with the assemblers at 5:18am at their tool box talk, but I am habitally 5 minutes late so usually never.

11/2/2009 9:37:51 PM