Stretching bad for before execrising?

My personal experience is stretching is unnecessary before running or cycling.

But stretching is helpful during my martial arts class/workout. Meaning I will be less sore afterwards.,

Here’s a good article:

Why Stretching May Not Help Before Exercise

Well, for things that require explosive strength like sprinting, stretching can reduce performance far more than it reduces risk of injury. That said, the difference is small enough that it only really makes a difference for world-class athletes.

I think the whole argument for not stretching is complete BS

I can name you at least 3 handful of memories during sports where if I weren’t flexible some hits or falls I’ve taken would’ve resulted in complete tears of muscles I hadn’t stretched.

And it even feels crappier not to stretch. For one week I didn’t do stretches and ran. Went home, next day do it again, tightness sucked. The next week I stretched per the norm routine that I do, I just feel like it gives me an extra boost, better flow, less pain etc.

Maybe the argument against stretching is right before exercise but I highly recommend any athlete be as flexible as possible.

Stretching helps you reach your potential of athleticism in I believe. There’s no way LeBron James is as ferocious or acrobatic as he is right now without being into stretching. Same could probably be said for most martial arts. Leg kicks require a ton of stretching to get max potential in height of kick.

With all this being said,

I wonder if Usain Bolt would be as dominant as he is without stretching? Or Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Sharapova, Djokovic, Iron Man racers etc.

@pleiades Again, I think it depends. For most things, flexibility and injury resistance are key. For distance running, you don’t need the sort of burst strength that a sprinter needs. Martial artists can benefit from being a little “loose”. And while a sprinter who doesn’t stretch may feel worse physically afterwards, if that 0.03 seconds makes the difference between gold and 4th place, I think they’ll live.

Stretching makes the muscles “soft” and can decrease strength up to 10%. People seem to think stretching warms up muscles and reduces the risk of injury, but there is no evidence that this is true. Personal trainers haven’t suggested static stretching before workouts in a long time because it’s been common knowledge that stretching after the workout is more beneficial for awhile.

“If you overstretch your muscle and then demand a power activity, it makes all the sense in the world that it doesn’t have the power or force that it would if it hadn’t been stretched.”

As for warming up, it’s best to slowly warm your body up and gradually get your heart rate up to prepare for a workout. Your warm up should be anywhere from 5–15 minutes, depending on what type of workout you’re doing. FitnessBlender.com has fantastic warm-up videos on their website. Jumping jacks is generally one of the last exercises in a warm up because it quickly increases the heart rate. Shoulder rolls, torso twists, high knee pulls, jogging in place, basic squats, and butt kickers are all great warm up workout moves as well. Some warm ups include moves that do help with flexibility, such as standing toe touch crunches, but you’re not holding the stretch, just warning up the hamstring to allow for more full range of motion.

Stretching should be done during your cool down at the end of your workout.

I was told and have used the premise that warm up activities are doing what you will be doing but slower and building up. This works well for cardio. As far as weight lifting I usually start with some cardio depending on time.

Sports I don’t do much but start slow.

I don’t think so, stretching before any exercises is always good as well as beneficial to our body. It is because, it will increase blood circulation in human body. As well as its generate energy in our body so we’ll do work easily.

I don’t do stretching. There is no point. In my opinion.

At my work, we are told to stretch before heavy lifting.

That is enough for me to say it is probably bad for you.

I can’t stretch before exercising. I am not limber, and could easily hurt myself and I can barely go far with my muscles anyway. Once a litttle warm I stretch a little sometimes, depending on what type of exercise I am doing; if my muscles will be demanded be very extended in the exercise I am doing. Like in ballet part of warm up at the bar is stretching, but it is a gradual build up towards long extensions. For zumba, running, swimming, weightlifting, I don’t think you really need it.

Stretching after exercise is very important though in my opinion. It decreases the likelihood you will be sore following exercise and it helps to stretch the muscle.

^^^ Right. As a horse person it is well known that after a hard workout your horse is walked until cooled and loosened up. As a 50 something now, let me tell you younger peeps, morning stretches make your day or not. lol
Just getting out of bed after 50 something years of body activities is really important and so is regular massage.
Don;t take your body for granted or it will fail you one day.