Should I stretch after Weightlifting?

When should I stretch while working out, before or after? for many years it’s been thought that it is best to stretch before your workout or exercise to prevent injury while warming up your body.

The latest research suggests doing static stretching before workouts can actually be harmful. Stretching your body when it’s cold can actually cause injuries such as strains and minor tears to your muscles.

 Most believe static stretching is what they should be doing to prevent injuries. Instead, you should be doing dynamic stretching movements during your workouts or static stretching after them.

Two of the Most Common Stretches

  • Static Stretching- stretching used to lengthen muscles by going all the way to the to its end of the range of motion and holding for a period of time
  •  Dynamic Stretching- stretching is done by priming your body for a specific exercise or sport by using momentum to complete the full range of motion.

Why Stretching after Workouts is Best

We now have research suggesting that doing dynamic warm-ups is a better and safer way to prepare your body for exercise. By doing dynamic stretching it lengthens the fascia which is the connective tissue around your muscles.

Dynamic stretching also warms up the body by increasing your core body temperature and prepares you for the movement of the exercise you are getting ready to do. 

It can be a very confusing concept because growing up all through playing sports, in gym class, working with trainers we were all taught to stretch before to warm up to prevent injury.

By doing the classic toe touch exercise was thought to loosen up our hamstrings but we are now finding out that this can negate performance Without reducing injury risks. 

Static Stretching should be done After your Workouts

There was a fairly recent study done with weightlifters showing That by doing static stretching before lifting weights can actually cause you to feel weaker during your workouts.

Recent studies show that not only is static stretching unnecessary before workouts but can also cause injury or lessen your performance.

To dismiss the beliefs of static stretching for workouts the researchers at the University Zagreb begin working on hundreds of experiments, looking at comparisons between using static stretching as a warm-up.

After working down to a hundred for studies they were able to determine if and how much static stretching negatively affected one’s performance during workouts.

The results were outstanding with what they found because once again we were always taught to stretch before exercise to prevent injury and this isn’t the case anymore from the latest research.

I was always injury-free from playing sports growing up and working out and always contributed it to my stretching and staying loose but doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.


Static Stretching before workouts can Decrease Strength

Static stretching was found to actually make strength decrease in a stretched muscle weaker up to 5.5% for those who are stretching and holding them for 90 seconds or more. Well, this obviously isn’t good because we’re trying to achieve the opposite before workouts. 

Even more, static stretching makes us weaker during our workouts by reducing the power of the muscle and the ability to produce more Force during lifts, up to 2%.

This in return will lessen your explosive muscular performance up to 2.8%. Another study even found that the amount that was lifted drops by 8.3% with static stretching.

How many of the volunteers for This research also reported feeling unbalanced and stable after stretching while performing their exercises.

We now know that it’s best for static stretching to be done after workouts. If you want to loosen up before workouts you should be doing dynamic stretching before or during the exercise. Dynamic stretching will mimic the movement of the exercise you are about to do to warm up your body.

Does Stretching after a Workout help with Muscle Growth?

Stretching is important for, flexibility and for muscle growth as well. While static stretching should not be done before workouts stretching is still an important part of any workout plan.

Stretching increases the body’s range of motion and also elongates muscles. According to new scientific research, it shows stretching encourages muscle growth.

What is Fascia?

It’s important to stretch your fascia because this is what will allow your muscles more room to grow. What is fascia? Every muscle in your body is surrounded by tough connective tissue also known as fascia.

fascia is very important because it’s what holds up your muscles in place in your body. however, on the other hand, fascia could also be what is holding you back from muscle growth.

Even if you are training correctly and your nutrition is good it still can be tough for your muscles to grow if you are not stretching properly.

Because of fascia being tough it’s possible it will not allow your muscles to expand in size. It’s because of the connective tissue supporting your muscles is constructing them within. A good example where the fascia is constricting is the calf muscle.

Our lower leg is covered with fascia because of its weight-bearing duties and responsibilities within the body. It’s also a reason why many people have trouble increasing muscle size to their calves.

This is where the phrase “don’t Skip Leg Day” comes from. and the fact that too many people just focus on their upper body. you will see more strength and muscle if you add a leg day to your workouts.  The solution too tight Fascia is stretching because this will allow more muscles more room to grow.

How long should you Stretch for After Workouts?

The study was done to measure how often and how long you should be stretching to improve the flexibility in your hamstring muscles.  It was discovered that a simple 30-second stretch 1 time per day was effective and all that was needed for improving hamstring range of motion.

While other research looks at stretching from 30 to 60 Seconds had no kind of added benefits. Also, they have looked at stretching from one to three times per day had no added benefits. Using static stretching after workouts are great but the results may not be immediate just like most things we should try to be more consistent with our goals we are trying to achieve.

I’m not always perfect with fitting stretching into my workouts because I am busy just like everyone else and it can’t be tough. I can really notice when I am not stretching because I just feel tight and sore.

We know by now how important it is to stretch after workouts to increase muscle size and flexibility. Because of the top supporting fascia that is holding our muscles in place.

How long should you be stretching after workouts, you should hold a static stretch 30 seconds one time per day is all that is needed after workouts. While dynamic stretching should be done before or during a particular movement during your workouts.








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