The 6 Best Stretches To Do Before Your Workout
Every great workout starts with a great warm-up.
And the research agrees.
According to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, a proper warm-up can greatly:
Improve workout performance and intensity
Increase workout strength
Increase workout endurance and delay fatigue
Improve core and muscle temperature
Improves mental focus and motivation
Improve range-of-motion
Decrease joint pain and stiffness
Decrease risk for injury
When you combine all of the elements above, you get far better workouts as you're able to exercise with more intensity, stamina, strength, calorie burn, and focus.
This means far better results for you.
Most people skip their warm-up though and get right into their workout due to either not knowing what to do for a warm-up or feeling like they don't have time.
Today we've created a list of the 6 best stretches to do before your workouts. And it only takes 4 minutes!
Check out the video and description below and complete these stretches before your next workout.
Here are your stretches:
1. 3-Position Child Pose (hold each position for 2 deep breaths)
Targets: Loosens your spine, low back, and shoulders
2. Arm Thread to Sky Bow (complete 5 repetitions per side)
Targets: Loosens and warms up your chest and shoulders
3. Down Dog to Mountain Climbers (complete 3 repetitions per side)
Targets: Loosens and warms up your calves, shoulders hips, and thighs
4. Row and Reach (complete 10 repetitions)
Targets: Loosens and warm-ups up your shoulders
5. Knee Hug to Reverse Lunge (complete 3 repetitions per side)
Targets: Loosens and warms up your legs
6. Toe Touch with Reach (complete 5 repetitions)
Targets: Warms up your total-body, especially legs and shoulders