I know it's important to stretch when you work out, but I'm unclear as to when I should be doing it. Some of my friends say I should stretch before I workout to warm up my muscles, but others say it's better to do it afterwards so that I don't get sore. When is the best time to stretch?
-Limber junior, loves to stretch
Before we get into when to stretch, let's talk a little bit about the benefits of stretching. The first and most important benefit is that, by limbering up, you prepare your muscles for exercise.
By stretching your muscles (after warming them up) you get them ready for either resistance or aerobic training. This helps prevent injury and also lengthens your muscles, which helps improve your posture (which we'll talk more about in a bit) and enables the muscles to contract with more force. Finally, stretching helps to prevent soreness, and so has a therapeutic benefit as well.
Since the most important function of stretching is to prevent injury, I personally believe that it makes the most sense to stretch before exertion. Stretching after your workout takes away this benefit. What good is preventing injury if you've already done the injury-causing activity? It doesn't hurt to stretch afterwards also, however - you're never doing your body harm by stretching it a little bit extra.
While we are on the topic, let's discuss some stretching guidelines. First, it's important to stretch any and all muscles that you plan to use during your workout. It's nice - but not as necessary - to stretch those muscles that you don't plan to work in your session. Second, every stretch should be held for at least 20 seconds. More is better, and less doesn't really make much of an impact. Tighter muscles should be stretched before looser ones and for a longer period of time. Your general rule of thumb at the gym should be, "When in doubt, stretch."
I was walking through Gantcher a few days ago when I overheard one of the personal trainers talking about a postural analysis. What's the point? How do I know if I have good posture?
-Andrea Bakst
When you sign up for the free personal training sessions at the gym, one of the benefits is that you get a postural analysis. Your posture is important because it shows all of the muscular imbalances in your body. Bad posture is an indication that some muscles are stronger than they should be or that your flexibility is lacking. Looking at your weak postural points will help you to organize your lifting and stretching program in order to correct these problems.
Correcting bad posture has two benefits: 1) you will look better, and 2) you will lower your risk for injury.
The two main areas in which people have postural problems are the hips and shoulders. Many people have their hips tilted backwards and their shoulders rounded forwards. If your butt sticks out and your arms are hunched forward, you know you suffer from these common problems.
Correcting bad posture isn't as easy as identifying it. The first step is to make a concerted effort to stand better. Tighten your abdominal muscles to bring your hips further forward and pull your shoulder blades together to bring your shoulders back. Try doing these things whenever you get a chance.
The second step is to configure your exercise routine around correcting these imbalances. If your hips tilt back, strengthen your abs. If your shoulders are rounded, work on your back muscles. Correcting postural defects before they get to be really problematic is a lot easier (and cheaper) than having back problems for the rest of your life.
I spend a lot of time on the elliptical, and I'm not really familiar with the other cardio machines. Is there any reason I should be doing other things for my cardio work?
- Gym novice, reads a magazine while working out
All cardio machines work your body in slightly different ways. Each targets your leg muscles in its own way to give you a unique workout. If you are simply looking at getting your heart rate up for a cardiovascular workout, all of the cardio machines do a similar job - running on the track or outside will also accomplish this goal.
If your concern is burning calories, there are definitely differences between the machines of which you should be aware. The most efficient calorie burner is running, followed by the elliptical machine, the arc trainer, the stationary bike, and the seated stationary bike. So, if you spend an equal amount of time on a treadmill versus an exercise bike, you will burn more calories on the treadmill (assuming your effort was comparable).
All things considered, it's best to spend your time doing the exercises that you find the most enjoyable - or the least terrible. It's better to do something than it is to do nothing, even if your something is not the most efficient calorie burner.
