Should I stretch before or after exercise?

Wonderinng if you should I stretch before or after exercise? Or are you one of those athletes who start training full of energy and like to exert themselves, but then you don’t have enough strength or desire to stretch? Many amateur athletes also ask themselves: Is stretching before strength training the same as warming up?

Let’s be clear: your training plan is set, now you just need to clarify how you should ideally start and end your training, or when the right time is for mobilization, stretching and stretching – because there are big differences between them. You will learn what types of stretching there are and when you should use them and for how long.

Should I stretch before strength training?

The short answer is: No, you should not stretch your muscles statically when they are cold, i.e. before a workout: This puts you at risk of injury and deprives your muscles of the tension they need for training. But even in the middle of training, when you are warmed up, long, static stretches lasting more than 30 seconds are not the right thing to do, because:

For strength exercises, you need muscle contractions, i.e. tension in the muscles, which you release through stretching. A large-scale scientific study comes to the conclusion that static stretching does increase the range of motion, but at the same time reduces muscle strength and endurance.

According to another study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, sports scientists agree that athletes should definitely warm up in general and specifically before a workout, but should only stretch their muscles statically after exercise. So stay dynamic and do not stay in one stretch for more than 20 seconds during the warm-up.

These types of stretching exist

Stretching is not the same as stretching and there are passive and active forms of flexibility training. Let’s take a closer look at these.

Stretching or static stretching

When most people think of stretching, they think of classic stretching. This is the same as static stretching, where there is no movement in the final position of the exercise and this position is held for more than 20 seconds. The aim is to improve mobility, because our muscles become shortened by one-sided movements or too little movement, but also by regular strength training. To counteract this, everyone should stretch several times a week, or stretch statically. A few minutes are enough.

Have you recently tried touching your feet from a standing position with your legs straight? If you practice this classic stretching pose every day, after just a few weeks you will be able to stretch deeper or even reach all the way to your feet. You will become more flexible because your muscles, tendons and ligaments will adjust in length.

In addition to the back of your legs, you should also stretch your hip flexors, chest, back and hips regularly. The flexibility you gain will improve your performance in any sport and relieve painful tension in everyday life. If you don’t feel like stretching, try yoga: this will not only do something good for your body, but also your mind.

Passive vs. active stretching

When stretching, a distinction is made between active and passive stretching. Passive stretching is done through external factors, such as resistance, such as a wall or a stretching band or a training partner. An example: You stretch your chest in the door frame and hold the final position for at least 30 seconds.

With an active stretch, you stretch a muscle by activating its antagonist. Hold this stretch for at least 10 seconds, then release briefly and go further or deeper the next time. The range of motion increases. Example: In a lunge, you stretch your hip flexors by activating your stomach and buttocks.

Dynamic stretching

When you do dynamic stretching, you make slow, springy movements within a stretching position. Without momentum or jerking and with a small range of motion. What is the point of this? As a scientific study in “physiopraxis” shows , dynamic stretching does not increase mobility in the long term, but in the short term it helps you become more flexible in the exercises and warms up the structures in the body. Dynamic stretching is therefore crucial for warming up. An example would be the deep squat, in which you gently rock up and down.

How do I warm up properly before strength training?

You are now aware that static stretching exercises have no place in the warm-up because they are more of a hindrance to your training and increase the risk of injury. Warming up before exercise is to increase your heart rate and blood flow, thus supplying the muscles with nutrients and oxygen. It is also about mentally and physically preparing the interaction of muscle chains, joints, tendons and ligaments for the following exercises, for more coordination and power in the exercises without the risk of injury.

Your goal should therefore be to generally warm up your body for 5 to 10 minutes with moderate cardio training and then complete mobilization exercises. Then do the first set of your exercise, each time with little weight. Your perfect general and specific warm-up should not last less than 10 minutes, but also not longer than 15 minutes, because this way you tire your body out before the actual training and your performance suffers.

What are mobilization exercises?

Mobilization exercises are functional exercises in which several joints work together. Unlike stretching, this is not intended to soften the muscles, but to increase the range of motion of the joints. So: mobility means the mobility of the joints and flexibility refers to the stretchability of the muscles. Both are important for complex movement sequences and a pain-free everyday life without imbalances.

Instead of mobilization exercises, you can also do dynamic stretching exercises. Here, too, the body warms up through the bouncing. Of course, you can also combine both in the warm-up and thus counteract your deficits: If you have a weak chest, for example, springy planks or mini push-ups can help you to move the bar more safely and deeper when doing bench presses.

Does stretching after training improve recovery?

Stretching does indeed increase blood flow to the muscles, which supplies them with nutrients and supports regeneration, but: Intensive strength training has not only left your muscles extremely tired, but has also caused micro-tears in the muscles. These must be repaired and at the same time the muscles grow with the right nutrition and sufficient rest time. However, if you do a long stretching program immediately after your workout, you run the risk of maximizing muscle damage.

Remember that your muscles are still under a lot of tension and fatigue from the training. As long as you don’t tear a muscle fiber, the micro-injuries heal easily, but it can take unnecessarily longer, which puts your subsequent training at risk. The safe alternative would be to structure your strength training in such a way that you promote your mobility with complex exercises during training, or you can postpone static stretching until tomorrow. You can also promote blood flow with a fascia roller or a sauna session to support the regeneration processes in your body.

Conclusion: Stretching is not the same as stretching and the timing is crucial

You now know that sports science distinguishes between dynamic and passive stretching. You can and should do dynamic or short passive stretching exercises before your strength training. The same goes for mobility training, which targets the mobility of your joints. After your workout, it is better to ensure that your muscles are well nourished with protein and to recover.

You can take care of the flexibility of your muscles, tendons and ligaments the next day with static stretching after a short warm-up so that you do not overstrain your muscles. If you have sore muscles, it is better to avoid it. In general, regular stretching is important to counteract muscle shortening – just not as part of your strength training, because although it increases your mobility, it immediately reduces your strength and endurance performance.