Stretching before a workout could harm you, experts say.
We’ve always been told to “warm our muscles” by stretching before a workout. Now, experts are saying that stretching before you exercise could “lead to injury.”
“Recent expert opinion has moved away from static stretching before a sport or activity and more toward gradual warming. Furthermore, stretching a cold tight muscle could lead to injury itself,” says Michael Daignault, who is an emergency physician in Los Angeles and a chief medical adviser for Reliant Health Services, USA Today reports.
Personal trainer Morit Summers agrees that stretching isn’t ideal before a workout, especially stretching that involves a person holding a position for a certain amount of time. “If you do a static stretch on a cold body, you can hurt yourself. You can tear a muscle,” she explains.
Summers says it’s best to listen to your body when stretching. “We can feel when something is uncomfortable or painful. So if you are doing static stretching, there should be a little of a pull but not much more,” she says. “If you start to feel like you’re pulling too far then you probably are and you should just stop.”
