As you enter the gym, you may already have a workout plan in mind. However, it’s essential to consider how you start and end your workouts to get the most out of your gym session. Muscles need time to warm up, and stretching helps circulate more blood to those areas, allowing for a greater range of motion and flexibility. This can increase performance, especially when doing actions that require bending, contraction, and pulling.
“Many people like to jump right into the workout, but stretching before and after is what’s going to determine how effective your workout can be for today and the next time you do it,” said Whitney Houlin, a personal trainer and director of training and fitness at WeGym in West Hartford, Connecticut.
To achieve better results or to overcome a plateau in your fitness journey, try adding dynamic and static stretching to your next workout. Dynamic stretching involves moving a joint through its full range of motion to increase flexibility, while static stretching involves holding a single position for several seconds.
Researchers have produced conflicting results when it comes to the best pre-workout stretch. However, more recently, studies have been leaning towards dynamic stretching. An October study found that dynamic stretches were better for pre-workout than static stretching because they reduce the risk of injury. An April review of workout routines found that dynamic stretching produced a greater range of motion in the lower limbs along with improvements in force and power in those areas.
Physical therapist Dr. Mario Mejia recommends dynamic stretching before a workout because it prepares the body for intense activity, mimicking the same movements that will be imposed on the body during exercise.
“One of my favorite dynamic pre-workout stretches is what I call the world’s greatest stretch,” said Houlin. “It’s one of my very favorite ways to warm up. It’s a good universal one too for lots of different exercises.”
To perform the world’s greatest stretch, start in a standing position, hinge at the hips, and walk your hands out into a plank position. Engage your core for stability and balance, then step a foot next to one hand like a big runner’s lunge and lift the other hand off the floor. Next, step the foot back to a plank position and walk your hands back to the feet to roll yourself back up to standing.
Static stretches can be passive or active. Active static stretches involve working a muscle while using other muscles to hold the stretch, such as lifting a leg in front of you using leg and core strength. Passive static stretches involve extending a muscle using gravity or other stretching tools.
After a workout, static stretches are best for getting the body back to a state of rest. “Stretching the muscles I just exercised gets blood flow back to those muscles to start the muscle repair process,” said Houlin. Performing stretches that target the muscles stressed out during exercise also helps reduce muscle pain and stiffness.
Dr. Mejia added that static stretching at cooldown also increases muscle elasticity, reducing the chances of muscle pain and stiffness. “When you hold a static stretch at the end of a workout, you’re stretching the muscle fibers from their origin to their insertion,” he said.
The pigeon pose is a great static stretch for post-workout, targeting the hip flexors and glutes. Dr. Mejia recommends hamstring stretches, calf stretches, and a standing quad stretch. Hold each static stretch for 15 to 30 seconds for two to four sets, allowing for adequate elongation and improvement in range of motion.
