Everyone has heard that stretching your muscles before lifting weights is a good idea. It limbers up you muscle and prevents injuries. But did you know that it was also important to stretch after you are done lifting?

Most people especially when they start out lifting weights jump right into their lifting routine without any stretching before hand. They feel like the stretching does little to get them ready to exercise. Maybe that first set of exercises will feel a little tight but they are okay with that.
They shouldn’t be. Stretching not only prevents injuries but also helps you get the most out of your workout.

As for stretching after the workout, the reasoning is simple you want to make sure that the muscles that you have worked are flexible. Without the stretching your muscles will get tense which leads to less flexibility.

If you are an older person who is doing strength exercises stretching is even more important for you because you need to do everything you can keep your flexibility while increasing your strength.

A few things to remember before stretching:

• Stretch slowly, this should help to avoid any strains.
• stop stretching if you experience any pain
• don’t try to over stretch any muscle this may lead to injury
• try to be as relaxed as possible while stretching
• make sure that you stretch in a smooth non jerking manner

Try to remember that stretching before and after a workout is as important as the workout itself.