Everyone knows that you should stretch before physical
exercise. It turns out that everyone might just be
wrong. New research seems to
indicate that stretching can actually reduce your strength without providing
any immunity from injury. Wait, what?
Stretching seems harmless. Holding a stress position that
extends large muscle groups seems like an obvious way to prepare the muscles
for rigorous use. And how often are muscle pulls or strains blamed on not
stretching before working out?
Two recent research studies took on measuring the results of
stretching before exercise. One study found that stretching reduced overall
strength by 5.5% and the other study found strength decreased by 8.3%. These results were independent of people’s
age, sex, or physical fitness. The only time stretching did not have negative
effects was when the stretching period was less than 45 seconds.

any benefits. Dynamic stretching, however, seems to help. Dynamic stretching involves moving the body through the motions of the anticipated strenuous exercise, but without any weight or resistance. This helps stimulate blood flow and increases tissue temperature, delivering resistance to injury without decreasing muscle strength.
So maybe consider some light exercises before weight
lifting, like squat thrusts or jumping jacks. Just leave those “stretch and
hold” positions in the closet with your Nehru jackets.
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