The Healthy PUSH

Do you stretch before your workout? Let me talk you out of it.

November 8, 2011 — 8 Comments

Have you been skipping your ‘hasbeen’ pre-workout stretching routine? You might have been doing something right.

An athlete is flexible, there is no doubt. It is the basis of good form, top speed, muscle growth, injury prevention and endurance without failure. However, stretching before a workout can hinder your performance. The reality is that there are better ways of warming up than static stretching and in fact, if you start a workout  with a static stretch routine you can end up slowing yourself down or straining a muscle that isn’t ready. This doesn’t mean skipping stretching all together. No way! Instead, do your static stretching post-workout when your muscles have been warmed up and oxygenated.

At the beginning of a workout I suggest a dynamic warmup routine instead of static stretching. This will get your body conditioned while slowly increasing your heart rate and pumping your blood. Doing it this way, your muscles will get the oxygen and nutrients they need to perform when you ask them to.

There are many dynamic warmup moves you can put together for a routine, but be sure to get the lower back, leg muscles, and all your joints moving. A routine I often refer to is here and I make my clients spend at least 10 minutes performing the routine.

As I mentioned before, flexibility is the basis for performance; however, there must be a balance between flexibility and stability to keep you from injury. You want to be a sturdy athlete and sturdy athletes have joints that have strong muscles surrounding them. The strong muscles won’t allow the joint to move into dangerous ranges that can over stress the vital tendons and ligaments. If you want to maintain your athleticism and agility, like a pro, I recommend a minimum of 2 compound exercise workouts per week (I will accept a power yoga class). For a good example of what one of these workouts looks like, check out one of my favorites:

You are a Force. All-Bod-WOD. A Champion’s Workout of the Day (WOD). A Healthypush.com Original.

LOVINGyourself is PUSHINGyourself.

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(*PUSHadvice from the coach is intended as general training information and you should use at your own risk. Your specific training and nutrition should be addressed to your personal health care provider. Specific questions relating to your specific training, health, injuries, diet, and nutrition should be consulted with your health care provider.)