Since high school gym class we've been taught the importance of stretching before exercise or the big game.
When done correctly and at the proper time, stretching your muscles and joints can help increase flexibility and range of motion as well as ease recovery after a workout. However, it will not make you thinner, leaner, longer or build muscle. Proper exercise and diet are required to accomplish any of those.
And while increasing your range of motion, something that decreases with age for all of us, will lend to more flexibility when working out, it does not on its own prevent injury, though some claim this. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, most athletic injuries occur during a normal range of motion anyway, so stretching is a non-factor. They don't recommend giving up on stretching by any means, but instead were simply presenting known limits.
There are two schools to stretching: static stretching and dynamic stretching.
Static stretching is probably what you think of when you think of conventional stretching, because it involves sitting relatively still as you stretch one muscle group by contracting the opposite muscles. Conventional wisdom dictates that you, and in turn your muscles, should be warm before stretching but recent information seems to indicate that raising your temperature may have little to do with increasing flexibility. If you are more comfortable being warm before stretching, then by all means you should do that.
If necessary, use a wall, a piece of exercise equipment, a towel or an exercise band to help with your stretching. You can also work with a partner, which will reduce the need to contract opposite muscle groups. Static stretching should be slow and steady and each session you should attempt to stretch more as your muscles and joints loosen up. Stretches should be held for up to 30 seconds, if you are comfortable, and should focus on the muscle groups you are working on that day.
However, you should never bounce or stretch to the point of pain. Let me repeat that point: stretching should not be painful. You can overstretch and injure yourself, so be careful.
When finished with a static stretch, don't immediately jump up into the next stretch. You muscles are being, well, stretched, during this process and are not at their strongest. Gently return to a resting state before getting into the next position.
When should you stretch? Before, during and after exercise are all appropriate times to stretch. Getting warmed up and ready should require lighter stretching than when finishing, say, a five-mile run. Post-exercise stretching is usually more involved and is also a good time to rest and slow your body down. During resistance exercises, stretching between sets instead of watching the clock can both benefit your overall strength program as well as pass the time quicker.
And what of dynamic stretching, a.k.a. "ballistic" stretching? Dynamic stretching requires careful attention to form as you stretch the muscles at the same speed your normally use them, moving quickly into and out of the stretched position. Ballistic stretching can be risky for people out of shape and it is highly recommended that you study up on it or seek a trainer who specializes in it.
