Is stretching before exercising pointless?
An interview I heard the other day on Fresh Air on NPR caught my attention.
It was about, among other things, whether you should stretch before exercising:
Research now suggests that stretching before a workout isn’t necessarily a good thing, because it causes the brain to think you’re about to tear those muscles, says Reynolds. “When you stretch and hold a pose, the brain thinks you are about to damage yourself and it then sends out nerve impulses that actually tighten the muscles,” she explains. “… The result is, you’re less ready for activity, not more ready for activity.”
I’ve made a lot of awkward poses in the gym for nothing, apparently …
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Do a program like Tai Chi Chi Gung (health movements, not martial arts) where all the stretching you need occurs and no poses are held. You’ll find the opposite is true and you are more ready for activity. Also, more mentally alert afterwards.