by Daniella Di Nenno

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: October 18, 2010

Stretches and warm ups are an essential part of every weight training routine and are so often overlooked and perceived as optional. On the contrary, one should always remember to warm up before a workout in order to push your body to the limit, prevent injury during your workout, and eliminate the post work-out soreness. Stretches are easy to do and it only takes a few minutes before and after each workout to effectively stretch the muscles for optimum benefits.

It has happened to the best of us, you wake up ready to jet off to work when you attempt to get out of bed and feel your muscles tighten and you are so sore it's as if someone used you as a punching bag in your sleep.   It is a feeling that lasts usually throughout the entire day and frequently even into the next day, to the point that you wonder if it will ever go away. This painful and often unbearable nuisance is caused by a simple fact that could have been avoided. You rushed off to the gym in the mid-afternoon and after a gruelling workout that pushed your muscles to their peak, you realized you could do without stretches in order to save some time. Yes it may have saved you an extra five or ten minutes, but nothing could have prepared you for the agony the next day.  You can easily avoid this unpleasant annoyance by warming up and stretching before after every workout.

Warming Up to Warm Ups

Warming up before a work-out helps to stretch out the muscles, and ensure that they are flexible enough to get through each move with proper form and to eliminate the chance of injury. Stretching also helps the muscles to work more effectively in order to push through any challenging moves in the routine. Any exercise performed at low intensity can be considered a good warm up. Some good examples of warm ups are jogging in place for five minutes, or walking on a treadmill at a low speed for five to ten minutes. Pretty much any cardio exercise done at a lower intensity will help to warm up the body, get the blood pumping, and ensure that the muscles are flexible before you begin training. Warming up also helps increase your heart rate gradually so that you can begin your workout more effectively and will have lesser chances of burning out too quickly.

Stretch the Soreness away

Stretching after an intense weight training routine is equally as important as warming up. After lifting weights, the muscles need to stretch back into place in order for them to loosen rather

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>