Stretching has long-been many people’s favourite warm-up activity before working out. The truth is that low-intensity workouts are better.
Picture: Official US Navy Page/Flickr
Lifehacker Alumni Adam Dachis writes over at WonderHowTo about how stretching should actually be done after a good warm-up. Adam’s interviewee, Dr Brian Parr, explains:
Stretching is not a good warm-up. Most people don’t do this, but flexibility exercises should be done after a good warm-up or at the end of an exercise session.
…A good warm-up should be at least 5-10 minutes of aerobic/endurance exercise done at a lower intensity than the workout (or event or sport) that emphasises the muscles you will use. A practical recommendation is to do a whole-body exercise (rowing machine, elliptical machine, etc.) for 5-10 min before starting your workout. There are also a lot of whole-body exercises that don’t involve equipment that are good alternatives.
Stretching is still helpful, but properly preparing your muscles for a workout should be the first thing you do. Slowly build the intensity of your warm-up to match that of the actual workout. Physio Advisor has a warm-up guide to help you along.
If you want to know what else Dr Parr had to say, hit the link below.
Why You Shouldn’t Stretch to Warm Up for Exercise or Sports [WonderHowTo]
Comments
3 responses to “The Right Way To Warm Up For Your Workout”
I do a 10 minute jog to the gym for my warm up.
Works great and doesnt make me feel lazy like driving to the gym would.
I’ve been doing 10 min low intensity runs on th elliptical for as long as i can remember before my workouts, i always assumed that using the muscles would be better than stretching them from cold.
At last, a few words pointing in the right direction.
Recent articles in Lifehacker and Gizmodo on this subject have been sub-standard.
“Blood pooling in the legs and taking time to get to the heart and brain”
‘Houston we have a problem’, would be an understatement.