Recently there’s been a debate about stretching before performing physical activities. It’s well known among all that stretching before working out is very important, but could that be false?
Holding a stretch for twenty to thirty seconds, known as static stretching has been used by professional and unprofessional athletes, has been proven that it can actually reduce the performance and weakening muscles in the leg by at least 30 percent.
Many think that with old age, people need to stretch in order to prevent injuries. So are you supposed to exercise before stretching or stretch before a workout? Are there different consequence on female and males? The answer is yes.
It’s been shown that due to minor differences in joint structure and connective-tissue anatomy, women have slightly greater ROM than men for most joint motions. This shows that females have a greater overall flexibility than males.
Aging could be another problem. The older one gets the more bone density lost.
This means that the joints will become stiffer and less flexible. Flexibility levels decrease about 50 percent the older people get. The one thing people often mistake is the difference between stretching and a worm-up.
Another thing, stretching is not a warm-up. A warm-up is getting ready before an intense activity. For example, walking before running and slow cycling before biking that is considered a warm-up while stretching is performed after a warm up.
Why can’t people stretch and then perform the warm-up? The main reason why people shouldn’t stretch before a warm is the increase of injuries.
This is a debate that’s been going on for quite a time now. If stretching before a workout is considered bad, then how come it still being performed today? That’s the point of the debate;there’s the side that says that stretching before a warm up is good while the other side strongly disagrees. Stretching does not prevent a injury. Stretching before a workout will decrease your performance level and therefore make it easier for you to get injured.
