WEEK THIRTY-TWO :: How Important Is Warming Up?

[the_fake_webmaster]

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TOPIC: How Important Is Warming Up?

For the week of: July 8th - July 13th.

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Much of the time you will see people stretching out their legs before a run, or stretching out any body part before they train it. It's also very popular for people to begin warm-up sets before they really get into the workout.

How important is warming up before a workout?

Does stretching help prevent injury and soreness? Could it make someone more prone to injury through over-training?

What types of stretches do you perform before a workout? Do you stretch you whole body or just the body parts you are working that day?

What stretching routine do you follow?

How important is the cool down? Does it affect muscle recovery? Soreness?

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

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Bodybuilding.com

[Smith_X]

Normally, everybody could see people stretch their muscle before workout. But you may notice that not everybody do that.

However, I'm just one person who do not see any important from stretching for a very long time until I injure. I try to find out the reason that why I feel pain at my shoulder joint, my tendons are tear, and many other injury. (many time.) and I have to off work out for months.

I think that it's happen because I never perform warm up set before work out. I skip the warm up set and life the weight that I should do. (Especially, on Bench Press day.) Now, I do warm up 1 set with 40 - 60% of the normal weight that I expect that I want to lift that day. I do tell everybody to see the necessary of warm up, too. If you never feel pain, you never know how it could be. You have to stop work out for a long time and this not worth.

Anyway, I think in my country do not have much people lift over-weight much. There are only a few people try to lift over-weight and I do not heard that those guy have seriously injure or not. However, maybe those guy injure but I do not heard.

In my opinion, stretching only the body part you want to workout is just fine and once you finish working. Stretching again for whole body part if you have time is great. I heard from trainer in my fitness claim that stretching after workout maybe reduce the recovery time of your muscle. If you can, try to attend the Yoga class, it's helpful.!

For the supplement that help recovery, I think Glutamine is the best. But if you want to increase your power, Any Carbo (i.e. Dextose) and Creatine is the Best supplement that you should try. It's worth for you money.

[ShibbyCreatine]

You see it in every sport, athletes stretching their muscles to properly execute the movements their sport demands of them, soccer players gently kicking into warm air, the star quarter back throwing passes starting with lighter softer passes and gradually reaching his or her full potential after a few warm up throws. And wouldnt you know it, us bodybuilders do it too, putting our egos to rest by grabbing a lighter pair of dumbbells or sliding less weight onto the bar to do whats right. A proper warm up.

But what exactly are these athletes hoping to accomplish with such movement and strategy? The main objective and reason behind stretching is to avoid bringing the activity levels of the muscles about to be used exsessivly up at too steep of a pace. Working out requires the muscles to recruit more and more blood and oxygen to support the level of activity they are being used at and stretching helps accomplish this at a quicker pace by starting up blood flow. In other words, the higher the intensity of the workout the more valuable stretching becomes, but thats not to say if you are doing a very light workout that stretching is less important.

Stretching also loosens and lengthens muscles that have become tight due to stress, or lack of use and changes them from being injury prone to being ready for the most intense of workouts. Always be sure to stretch before any workout form, be it light jogging on the treadmill, or eye-poppingly heavy bench presses.

Another form of warming in bodybuilding is to use lighter weights for a set or two, a higher repetition range is generally preffered in order to give the muscles a proper sneak peak of the heavier weights to come. Proper form and tempo of the lifts are of the highest importance here, preforming the lifts too quickly could shock the muscle into tightening up once again and in some cases it could cause serious injury.

Many bodybuilders have made the mistake of neglecting their warmup routines in the past, now that you have read this, i hope you will think twice before you skip your next warmup and jump straight into the big weights.

Bonus! - After all is said and done, your muscles can (and should be:D) seriously drained of the much needed glycogen, the best way to send glycogen levels sky-rocketing to to immediantly toss back somthing loaded with simple carbs, a muffin, cookies, banannas or even just a gatorade will help. Glutamine will aid the body in raising protein metabolism while reducing muscle tissue breakdown.

[mel_stepp01]

A warm-up period is important before any athletic performance; it helps protect against injury by improving flexibility of the muscles. To avoid injury, athletes should raise the body's internal temperature through light activity before engaging in stretching exercises. I see a lot of athletes stretching before lifting (most just are going through the motions without much thought). This is pretty much useless and potentially dangerous without the warm-up.
A general warm-up period should consist of 5 to 10 minutes of aerobic activity (jogging, biking, etc.) to increase heart rate, blood flow, viscosity of fluids, and perspiration. The increase in muscle temperature allows a greater amount of flexibility which readies an athlete for the movement required by his or her sport (ie weight training).
A specific warm-up incorporates movements similar to the movements of the athlete's sport. It involves 8 to 12 minutes of activity or sport-specific stretches, such as shoulder stretches for volleyball players. Additionally, a specific warm-up is sometimes based on the dynamic movements of a given sport or activity. In weight training this would most likely be the "warm-up set" during which a lifted lifts a substantially lighter load.

Remember, the more power necessary for the sport or activity, the more important the warm-up!*

It is easy to get in a hurry and skip this part of your workout, but it is definitely necessary!

As far as supplements, phosphagens and glycogen are the most frequently depleted. Therefore, repletion is important following a workout.

Melissa
M.S., CPT

*Referenced from: Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning by Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle

[SULLYSIZED]

The Importance of Warming Up Before a Workout

Warming up before you workout is as important as the actual workout in my opinion. Everyone knows when you workout you need to give 110% effort and have beast-like intensity to go along with it. Now how are you going to give maximum effort if your muscles are tight and sore? The answer is you aren't. If your muscles arent warmed up properly then you most likely won't be able to lift to your potential. If you aren't lifting to your full potential then you certainly are not giving 110% effort now are you? This is why warming up is so important before you perform any physical activity. Warming up not only helps with flexibility it can also have a positive psychological effect on you. Many times when you go to the gym to work out you are coming from a place that has nothing to do with bodybuiliding such as work. Now if you are tired and your mind is shot from sitting at a desk all day you probably won't be too focused as you sit down and try to pump out 6 reps. Warming up can not only get the blood flowing but it can give you some time to focus and think about what you want to accomplish in the gym that day. If you aren't warming up you are only cheating yourself.

Stretching and its Ability to Prevent Injury

Stretching greatly helps in the prevention of injury and soreness. Stretching helps bring a stronger bloodflow to the muscle being stretched which helps the muscle cells recieve more oxygen and nutrients. With more nutrients the muscle cells can recover that much faster and soreness with be limited. Muscles should still be stretched on non workout days to bring extra nutrients to deprived muscle cells. I do not believe stretching can make someone more prone to injury through overtraining. I do not believe there is a stretching routine that could be so intense it would lead to an injury in the first place.

My Stretching Routine

I stretch my whole body at once using stretches that target more than one muscle group. This helps save time but still gives me all the benefits of stretching. Even if you are only working two muscle groups on a certain day it is still important to stretch your whole body to promote better overall flexibility and to keep you muscles stretched from previous workouts.



Here is my stretching routine I [b]ALWAYS[b] follow before I step on the field or hit the weights. It consists of basic stretches anyone can perform by themselves. Every stretch is done twice on a ten count (start,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,stop,repeat,stop).

Arm circles- Delts, Pectorals and Lats.

R/L arm accross body - Tricep and Delt

R/L arm behind head - Tricep and Lat

Feet together and down - Hamstrings and Calves

R/L leg up and hold with hand - Quads

Buttlerfly Stretch - Groin

R/L Hurdler Stretch - Quads, hamstrings

One Leg infront of the other calf stretch - Calves

Stand and grab the back of your ankles with your legs apart - Glute,
Hamstrings

Biceps - My favorite bicep stretch is to set my hand on a wall and twist my
body away from my hand

Cooldown and its Importance to Muscle Recovery

Cool down is very important in the matter of preventing injuries and having better muscle recovery. Depending on your situation cooldown should be performed differently. If you just get done running a mile then your cooldown should be a 5 minute walk to slowly ease your body back to homeostasis. If you just get with a set you should be hydrating yourself and stretching. DO NOT just sit down and rest. You will tighten up and will be more prone to injury. Any activity during this time will keep the blood flowing and keep you at the level you want to be. The cooldown after a whole workout should involve light stretching and hydration to go along with a post-workout shake.

[b]BONUS QUESTION[b]: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

One misconception people have about recovery is they believe glycogen levels need to be restored during physical activity so the best thing to have Gatorade or some sort of sports drink. This is NOT true. Your body naturally has enough glycogen stored to give you energy during physical activity for 90 minutes so glycogen levels generally do not need to be replenished unitl post-workout for most people. So save the sports drinks until after you workout because Gatorade is a decent way to help spike your insulin levels to increase protein or creatine function post-workout, but there are much better ways to do this such as using dextrose. For pre-workout supplements I would say whey protein and BCAA's are the best. For post-workout I believe whey protein, creatine, and BCAA's are the best supplements. These are the only supplements other than EFA's and a multivitamin I find are a neccesity if you are bodybuilding. One other supplement worth mentioning is Arginine/Ornithine using a 2:1 ratio to be taken pre-workout.

[muscleboy333]

How Important Is Warming Up?

Many people are very misinformed about warming up and its importance before a workout. Some people don't warmup at all, others will spend half an hour wasting time and energy before their workout!

Popular belief is that simple stretching before your workout will make you more flexible, loose, and injury free. This is a myth! Conventional stretching before your workout can actually make you more prone to injury, and your lifts will be stronger if you stick to the following warm-up! You should start by getting some blood flowing all over your body and getting your heartrate and temperature to rise a little. This can be accomplished by a few minutes of light jogging.

Next, you'll need to directly warm-up the muscle you're about to work. How many sets you'll need to do this depends on how much weight you're using in the exercise. If you only deadlift 150 pounds, you could probably get by with just two warmup sets, 75 X 6-8 and then 100 X 4-6. However, if you've worked up to very heavy weights, say 500 pounds in the deadlift, you will need to pyramid up in your warm-ups more. Ex: 145 X 10, 245 X 6, 300 X 4, and then you could do 400 X 1, or even 450 X 1 so that the weight jump isn't such a shock. The reason I say this is because if you were to do your last warmup set with 300 pounds for a 500 pound work set, even though you've warmed up the muscles properly, it's quite a big jump and makes the work set seem heavier than it really is. Warming up properly will allow you to use as much weight as possible for your working sets, even up to 25% more than if you hadn't warmed up! How's that for a few minutes of easy work?

Now that the muscles you're going to be working are directly warmed up, you can give the exercise everything you've got and stimulate growth safely. After you're done all sets of the exercise, you can do a very effective form of stretching, called extreme stretching for that muscle. This will not only stretch the fascia of the muscle, but it will greatly improve your recovery time and make you even less prone to injury.

I stretch the muscle I just finished working. So if I just did my heavy incline and decline bench press, I would do an extreme chest stretch. (Lie down flat on a bench with two dumbbells, and drop them into a deep flye. Try to force your elbows down as far as you can for 60 seconds.)

For triceps, sit on a chair with a heavy dumbbell in one hand, in the bottom position of a overhead dumbbell extension. Use your head to push back on your elbow. Hold for 60 seconds, then repeat for the other arm.

For biceps, face away from a power rack with a high barbell in it, about neck height, and reach back gripping it with your hands over the bar. Now squat down as deep as you can go. Hold for 60 seconds.

For back, you can do one of two things. The first is to hang from a chinup bar with a wide grip and straps, and hang on as long as you can with a heavy dumbbell between your legs. The second is to pull on a doornob with a rounded back, and really stretch your lats.

For shoulders, face away from a power rack with a barbell that's shoulder high, then grab it with your palms under the bar. Now walk out infront, still holding the bar, until it gets painful. Now roll your shoulders down and hold for 60 seconds.

For quads, basically do a sissy squat under a hip high barbell, while leaning back as far as you can. Believe me, this is excruciating. Hold for 60 seconds.

Finally, for hamstrings put one leg up on a high barbell, and use try to force your leg straight the whole time. Switch to the other leg after 60 seconds and repeat.

These will be painful, but in the end they will be worth it. Remember, don't stop before your 60 seconds is up!

I think extreme stretching for the bodypart you just finished training is an alright cooldown, but after you're done your workout you can just bring your temperature and heartrate down safely with another very light walk or jog. No need for more stretching, extreme stretching has already taken care of this, and that will definitely speed up your recovery and you won't get as sore the next day. This is for a workout with weights, if you just finished a run you would do things a little differently. Before the run you should slowly bring your temperature and heart rate up by jogging slowly, and increasing speed as needed until you're at the desired intensity for your cardio workout. After your run, you should do another light jog, only slowing down this time instead of speeding up.

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

Right now, the best recovery supplements are protein powder and glutamine. Both are made up of proteins and protein precursors (amino acids) and will make you recover quicker. Shy away from most of fancy new things, you'll be wasting your money. Other than glutamine and whey/casein/egg protein, stick to something tried and true like creatine. For pre-workout, you'll want some simple and complex carbs, as well as a good amount of protein. Most supplements don't contain enough carbs and protein for your post or pre-workout meal, so you're better off eating real food. A good weight gainer can make a nice post or even pre-workout meal however. Pre and post-workout meal requirements are quite similar, for post-workout you'll need about half and half carbs (simple and complex), and a hefty dose of protein. If you really want to use supplements for your post or pre workout meal, stick with a good weight gainer that could meet these requirements (so this means nothing loaded up on useless sugar). Here's a good sample post-workout meal, you can change it to meet your size and liking:

-1-2 cups of milk or water, mixed with 1-2 scoops of whey and 25-75 grams of dextrose
-1/2 cup of oatmeal with yogurt on top (you can eat this cooked or blend it with your shake)
-1 big steak, or other good meat
-2 potatoes, however you like them
-A few glasses of milk if you like

This may seem like alot, but again, this is just an example. You don't need to eat exactly those foods, but shoot for similar protein and carb amounts depending on your size. If you feel like skimping out on your post workout meal, don't, and remember, it's by far the most important meal of the day!

Conclusion:
To wrap things up, warming up and extreme stretching is key to not only keeping injury free and flexible, but also to faster recovery and greater strength! Don't waste your time doing too many warm-up sets, or dive straight into a heavy set of squats, instead do things right by following a plan like the one outlined above and enjoy the benefits!

[sword chucks]

nice job muscleboy, great article

btw- I guess they do teach RAFT paragraphs in 6th grade

[Semtex]

“Hey you! Go warm up!”


Echoes throughout my mind as my weight training coach screams at random kids in the weight room.

Often you hear the phrase “warming up” and you automatically associate it with weight lifting, but it also expands to other sports and has many benefits. You hear it often, but do you even know what warming up actually is? The dictionary defines it as:
warm-up
n : exercising in preparation for strenuous activity [syn: tune-up, prolusion]
This is exactly what warming up is! This is a popular belief that lay in the minds of many lifters, and as usual popular beliefs accompany themselves with many myths. But I am here to tell you the facts about warming up.

The key benefits of warming-up are:

-Increase in muscle temperature through whole body temperature
Muscles that are warmed up are naturally more lubricated with fluid which is more suitable for explosive movements like squating, benching, or whatever you are planning to do. A cold muscle is more likely to tear than a warm muscle.

-Increase in efficiency of neural pathways used in physical activities which leads to enhancement in muscle coordination
A neural pathway is a neural tract connecting one part of the nervous system with another, usually consisting of bundles of elongated, myelin insultated neurons, known collectively as white matter. Neural pathways serve to connect relatively distant areas of the brain or nervous system, compared to the local communication of grey matter. Basically efficiency in neural pathways is a good thing, which will help your coordination- and help keep you focused throughout your workout.

-Metabolic activity of the muscles
When the muscles are stimulated through warming up, they go through a metabolic phase. Cells undergo chemical changes by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated. New cells are created, your body gets to work, providing you with the energy to work out.

-Increase in blood flow to the muscles, therefore increase in O2 uptake
As blood flows to the muscles, the muscles receive nutrients that are essential to growth. Increase in oxygen will also help keep your body endure the grueling task of repairing/strengthening your muscles.

-Improve range of movement, which in turn increases flexibility and improve muscles ability to react swiftly and efficiently
Simply by warming up, again your muscles are lubricated. It gets rid of stiffness throughout your whole body, which makes you more flexible.

-Reduce risk of injury
The single most important benefit, all these changes are going through your body while you warm up. So basically your shielding yourself from injury by taking a good precaution, and warming up.


Basic Ballistic Stretching

With ALL the benefits of warming up, why shouldn’t you do it?! Now that you have been introduced to warming up, meet its cousins “Stretching” and “Cooling down”. Though, the sequences of Stretching, Cooling down, and Warming up are highly debated among fitness enthuses… in my opinion Warming up should always be first, which is then followed by Cooling down, and then stretching. I will go into further detail why stretching isn’t as essential to US in the BEGINNING, as it is in other sports.

Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. Stretching isn’t just bending over to touch your feet for 5 seconds, but it also is a process which adapts your body to what it has just undergone. I truly believe that stretching after a work out will help you with its long-term and shor-term benefits.

Short-term
-The day after a work out you will be GLAD that you took the time to stretching because stretching has been proven to get rid of stiffness post work-out.
- Reduce muscle tension in make the body feel more relaxed
- Increase range of motion
- Improve coordination by allowing for freer any easier movement

Long-term
-Though, stretching wont make you Mr. Fantastic overnight, it has been proven in studies that in long-term studies, the average human being will adapt to stretching and increase their flexibility! Imagine 5 years from now being able to do back flips all you want, and being able to do the splits! Even though a man like Ronnie Coleman is admired for his size, he isn’t exactly the stiff macho-man he is made out to be. Ronnie Coleman can actually do the splits, which is a sight to see. You maybe his size in a matter of years, so it’s probably best to stay flexible.

Stretching routines are fairly simple to follow, don’t think of it as another workout. Make your stretches fun, I maybe come off as sounding like a Yoga instructor but trust me, I am far from that. Instead of only stretching muscles that you recently used, start by stretching as many muscles as you can. This will help promote better growth in the long run.

Here are some solid rules to follow when stretching:

Begin each movement by getting into the right starting position
Relax your state of mind and your muscles
Slowly move into the stretch
The muscles should continue to relax throughout the stretch
As they relax, slowly increase and hold a developmental stretch
Hold the stretch 20 to 30 seconds or longer
Slowly release the limb you are stretching

-Stretches for the arms would be by holding your elbow of your right/left arm behind your head and by gently pulling on it until you have surpassed your point of comfort.

-Crossing your legs and placing the bottoms of your feet together and pressing lightly will stretch your legs out.

-Doing some quick lunges will stretch your glutes and hamstrings.

-Stand in an upright position and cross one leg over the other, bend over and try to touch your palms to the floor. This will also stretch out your legs.

You can stretch accordingly to make sure all your muscles are all stretched out.

My stretching routine is usually what my body tells me. I do all the stretches above daily, and incorporate some new stretches every so often to keep things new and fresh. Always listen to your body, and make sure it tells you what it needs.

[Semtex]

Cooling Down

Cooling down is almost as important as warming up, but in some cases more important. Cooling Down usually refers to cardio but it can also apply itself to other strenuous activities. Let me start off by telling you a story.


*Slowly fades into memory mode*
I remember back in my Junior year of high school. I just signed up for weight training class and the first day our teacher Coach White told us what we needed to do to get an A in the class. He wanted us to bench our own weight three times, be able to do 25 push ups with a 3 second interval between each one, and be able to run 5 miles in under one hour. The first two tasks were easy because I could easily work myself up to it, but RUN FIVE MILES?! I was an ectomorph weighing in at about 137 lbs and I got pretty winded after a single mile. My best time was 7:37 so I was terrified of the Five miles. The time came at the end of the semester when I had to run it, and I started the first mile by jogging lightly until I was covered in a light sweat, the second to third mile I was jogging on, still going at a decent speed. The fourth mile hit me like a brick wall, but I persevered and I walked a bit until I was at 4 and a half miles. I sprinted the last half and I was done. I collapsed and went STRAIGHT INTO THE WEIGHT ROOM! I lifted for about half an hour and I went home and took a cool shower and fell asleep. The next morning…you knew what happened. My whole body shutdown, every inch of my body was aching. I felt like I was Rocky Balboa and I just fought Clubber Lang, Apollo Creed and the big Russian the night before. It took me about a week or two to fully recover, that is how I know the importance of cooling down.

Now that you have been formally known about my painful mistake first-hand, I can tell you why I felt like I did.
Cooling down will do all these wonderful things and more:

-Lengthen muscles.
When you stretching your muscles, they have to adapt to what you are doing to them. They do this by lengthening themselves. This will in turn, beat the muscles up fairly good- but this is what working out is about. Destroying your muscles and then letting them heal to grow bigger and stronger. Muscles will protect themselves by contracting and bunching up once you have stopped destroying them, this will shorten the muscle. Eventually it will stretch back to a good length once it is repaired, but this will still leave it shorter than it was before. In order to keep your muscle length, you must stretch!

-Reduces muscle stiffness
When you work the muscles they use up Oxygen and produce Carbon Dioxide and Lactic acid. These waste products are all taken away by your blood, but when you stop exercising, any waste left in the muscle will not be removed as fast. As your time goes on, the waste products will make your muscles stiff when they eventually cool down. If you can remove all possibly waste products that you physically can before the muscles cool down, then they will be less stiff afterwards. All you can do is to get rid of the waste the best you can, by cooling down. You will never remove all the waste, but you can help remove a large portion by doing this.

-Increases your flexibility
By exercising joints they will disperse waste products and improve mobility. Ligaments and joints do not have a good access to a blood supply so any waste products that enter, will stay for an elongated amount of time. But they do not collect as much waste so its ok.


BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

TO BE CONTINUED…TOMMOROW

[Semtex]

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

Recovery Supplements

There are so many supplements in the world today that its very easy to become confused on what to buy, and you may even buy into the ad campaign of the product rather than the actual product itself. Well I am here to list the recovery products that I use, in order of in importance.

-1 Whey
Whey is always a must in recovery, before you even touch any other canister, bottle, or jar you should always turn to your best friend- protein. Protein will never turn its back on you, it will always give itself fully, to help you build your muscle promote great growth. I use Optimum Nutrition Whey simply for the fact that it is cheap, great tasting, and it’s given me great results. I have tried numerous whey products but they never lasted the test of time, because a frothy chocolate shake is always welcome anytime of the day, but you can easily grow tired of lemonade, berry, all that other fruity stuff. My secret is to add a tablespoon of…Nesquik! It will make it very airy, sweet and add tons of flavor.

-2 Multivitamin
Added Soon.

-3 Glutamine
Glutamine is basically a product which will reduce muscle atrophy when cutting, or help grow muscle when bulking. It is a great product which many bodybuilders and other athletes swear by, it helps in protein metabolism and also is stored deep within our muscle cells, so be sure to refill on your glutamine.

Pre-Workout Supplements

-1 Green Tea
I truly believe Green Tea is underrated in the world of athleticism. Green Tea is high in anti oxidants, so it will flush all the toxins out of your body. It will relieve oxidative stress, protects skin from ultraviolet light, and it has a very high caffeine content. The high caffeine content will keep you energized and ready to blast through your workout. I always drink at least 10 oz of it pre-workout because it always seems to help me.

-2 No-Xplode
No-Xplode is always a great Nitric Oxide product. The caffeine that it contains will keep you mentally focused and make you feel confident. It has been known to give Vascular pumps immediately after consumption and give better performance, strength and endurance. I usually take No-Xplode as a pick-me-up on those days when your not quite feeling it.

Post-Workout Supplements

-1 Whey
Whey will always be my number one and only Post-Workout supplement. I do not like to put a lot of foreign substances in my body unless I know how they are going to react, but Whey is always useful. Protein post-workout will go straight into the blood stream and provide your muscles with the material it needs to grow. There is a 30-45 minute time span in which you MUST supply your muscles with sufficient protein, which will further increase your potential for growth.


References:

http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/Webpages/Health/stretchwarm.html
http://www.westrock.net/warming_up_and_stretching.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/neural-pathway

[Semtex]

Whew, I mustive spent a good 5-6 hours on that. I am still not done too damnit! I even hand wrote most of it so hopefully I can place in this contest. This is my first article!

[STUD]

The Importance of Warming up, Prior to a Workout

It's not a matter of how "important" warming up is before a workout. It's a matter of how beneficial a [b]proper[b] warm up is before you work out. Anyone can warm up, but if you're doing it wrong, you're only cheating yourself. If you aren't warming up at all you need to seriously pay attention to this article and learn about the many benefits of proper warm up Warming up has many benefits, but what are they exactly? Well here is a list of benefits warming up has to it that you may or may not have known:

*Increased Muscle Temperature - Increased Muscle Temperature - During a warm up the temperature in the targeted muscle cells rises significantly. This Literally warmed up muscle will now contract with more force and relax quicker.

*Further Range of Motion - Joints are loosened and can now provide a better range of motion.

*Improved Self-cooling - Your body can start to sweat causing you to cool down. Overheating is now less likely earlier in an event.

*Lower Stress on Heart - Blood vessels dialate reducing the resistance of blood flow to and from the heart.

*Mental Preparation - Many of you do not know that a proper warm up can play a great psychological role to further benefit you. Warming up is a good time to focus, think up strategies or even set goals as to what you want to get accomplished that day.

*Improved Muscle Elasticity - Body temperature increases improving muscle elasticity and reducing the risk of pulls and strains.

*These are the basic benefits a proper warm up has to offer. All of the benefits stated above will essentially lead to increased muscle growth for an individual.

Stretching and its Ability to Prevent Injury and Soreness

The sole purpose of stretching is to reduce the risk of injury and to aid in muscle recovery. Stretching is a very simple activity and anyone can do it, without fancy machines or a partner. There are many benefits a good stretch has in store for a person who's willing to do it right. Some of the benefits of a proper stretch include:

*Reduced muscle tension

*Improved circulation

*Reduced risk of injury

*Gives time to mentally focus yourself

*Reduce stress and fatigue

*Putting all the previous benefits into account, stretching will make your activity easier!

Now you see why stretching, like warming up should not just be something you do before you work out. It should be part of your workout. Stretching and warming up should be taken to the same level of effort that is used for the actual activity. I believe stretching can make someone more prone to injury if you actually overstretch your muscles. If you have not been active for weeks and your first stretch is far too intense you can actually pull that muscle just by stretching. I do not believe however, that stretching can lead to overtraining. No stretching routine should be that intense that it would actually lead to overtraining. Stretching and warming up should be intense but not to the point where you acually overtrain or injure yourself.

My Stretching Routine

Before I participate in any sort of physical activity, whether it be a football game, lifting weights, or running a mile, I like to perform a full-body stretch routine. The reason I choose to stretch my whole body as opposed to just the muscles that will be affected for that day is to keep a constant blood flow to the muscles that were affected days before. Stretching my whole body regularly also keep my muscles from tightening up and improves my flexibility. I am not a believer in only stretching the areas that will be affected for that specific day because you use a lot more muscles in some exercises than many people know. It shouldn't be a guessing game trying to think if you are going to use a muscle group that day , you should just stretch your whole body. The stretches I chose to perform are based on the type of activity I will be performing. I will use lifting weights as my example. Before I hit the weights I like to give my whole body a good stretch using this routine:

All stretches are done using 3 sets on a 5 count.

5 Minutes on the exercise bike (moderate speed) - This gets the blood flowing

Calf Wall Stretch - calves

Feet Together and Touch Your Toes - hamstrings

Standing Quad Stretch - Quadriceps

Butterfly Stretch - Groin

Squatting Glute Stretch - Glutes

Shoulder Stretch (Arm across torso) - Delts

Hand Down Spine - Triceps

Bicep-Wall Stretch - Biceps

Try and Touch Your Elbows Together Behind Your Back - Pectorals

Stretching before you engage in activity is important but remember to
stretch between sets to keep your muscles from tightening up. You do not need to do a full body stretch between sets. You can just stretch the affected muscles at this time.

Cooldown and its Muscle Recovering Ability

Cooldown is a very important factor when it comes to muscle recovery and preventing injuries. Cooldown after a long grueling activity such as distance running, soccer or football game should be performed differently than getting done with a day of weight training. Upon completion of a long strenuous activity, you need to slowly ease your muscles back to homeostasis, or regularity. For example if you just get out of a football game, DON'T just sit down in the locker room for 30 minutes and then later go home and sleep. Your muscles will tighten up and days later when its time for practice you are going to be wishing you followed this advice I am about to give you. Instead of just resting after the game you need to keep somewhat active and slowly bring your body back to the level it was at before. During this time light stretching should be performed to keep a steady supply of nutrients flowing to the deprived muscles. After you are done with a hard day at the gym always remember lightly stretch, this will not only help recovery, but it will help prevent injury.

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now?

What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?
I believe the best recovery supplements out right now are Whey Protein, Creatine and BCAA's. These supplements are great for aiding in muscle growth and helping you recover from previous workouts. I believe anyone who is even remotely serious about bodybuilding should be taking whey protein, creatine, BCAA's, efa's and a good multivitamin. The single most effective pre and post-workout supplement is whey protein, but only taking whey protein pre and post-workout won't give you the gains you are looking for. To get the gains I want out of bodybuilding I take the following 15 minutes prior to working out:

1.5 scoops Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html

2 scoops Xtend by SciVation

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/xtend.html

Directly following my workout I take:

2 scoops Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein

2 scoops Xtend by SciVation

10g Phosphagen by EAS

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/eas/phosnew.html

As far as multivitamin's and efa's go, I would recommend AST's Multi Pro 32x

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ast/multi-pro.html

and NOW Super Omega 3-6-9

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/supero.html

[Patterson]

Wow! Nice article STUD. That helped me a ton. I wasn't really sure what supps to take until now. Thanks.

[spit like ice]

thank you csnut that was some good advice on warming up i needed that thank u :)

[sword chucks]

Awesome article CsNUT. I have trouble beleiving that was your first article :D You are probably the one to beat :D

[Semtex]

Awesome article CsNUT. I have trouble beleiving that was your first article :D You are probably the one to beat :D

Hey thanks that means alot. Ive written lots of articles before but nothing on bb.com. :) Good luck to everyone, and hopefully I can finish it up by tommorow.

[ravadongon]

WEEK THIRTY-TWO :: How Important Is Warming Up?

By Ravadongon

Everyone wants to make progress, but sometimes injury can haunt us and not allow us to make progress and instead send us backwards. The good news is the majority of injuries can be prevented from occurring. How may you ask? By preparing properly for all your workouts carefully and correctly. This means warming up and cooling down before putting your joints and muscles under the stresses of heavy resistance. Unfortunately these two processes are very often done incorrectly, unsubstantially and sometimes not done at all.

How important is warming up before a workout?

Warming up is very important before any workout, whether it be before a 100m sprint or before maxing out on bench press. But the question you may be asking is why is it important? The answer is because it prepares muscles and joints for greater levels of activity, and also primes CNS to fire. It also has numerous other benefits such as:

- Reducing muscle stiffness (which is directly related to muscle injury)
- Increases speed of contraction/relaxation of the muscles that have been warmed up
- Removes lactic acid accumulated during previous workouts
- Increases blood circulation to muscles
- Increases efficiency of oxygen usage by warmed up muscles (hemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures)
- Neuromuscular coordination is improved by warming up before performing a movement

Does stretching help prevent injury and soreness? Could it make someone more prone to injury through over-training?

Stretching, when done correctly and properly, can assist in the prevention of both injury and soreness, as well as increasing flexibility. There are many types of stretching, such as static, dynamic, ballistic, passive, active and assisted. All serve their different purposes, but the two you should be most concerned with, in terms of your warm up and cool down for weight training and other similar activities are dynamic and static stretching, which I will talk about later.

Overstretching however is not a good idea. This will make you more prone to injury by overtraining and will consequently take you longer to improve your flexibility. Overstretching will produce miscroscopic tears (microtraumas) causing your musclar soreness, which will occur during or immediately after the stretch if severe, or a day or two later if minor. This can hinder your ability to recover quickly from a workout, so don’t over do it.

What types of stretches do you perform before a workout? Do you stretch you whole body or just the body parts you are working that day?

When stretching prior to working out, the best type of stretches to perform are dynamic stretches. These stretches reduce muscle stiffness, which is related to muscle injury. Dynamic stretches consist of controlled leg and arm swings.

Stretching during your workout is not necessary, just perform your warm up sets prior to each exercise. If you are going to stretch during your workout, don’t stretch the muscle you are directly using in the movement(s), stretch the antagonistic muscles e.g. when squatting, stretch the hip flexors, or when benching, stretch the lats. This has been shown to be of great assistance and can help improve your performance in the movement(s).

You are only required to stretch the body parts you are working on the day. However keep in mind you must know what muscles and joints you are working in the particular exercise(s), a lot of the time there are a lot more muscles involved than you think.

What stretching routine do you follow?

After a light jog, to increase body temperature (break a sweat) I will perform some of the following stretches, depending on what muscle and joints groups I am targeting on that day.

Pre Workout – Dynamic Stretching (10 swings per side)

- Basic Joint movement (flexion/extension/rotation)
- Shoulder Circling
- Arm Swings (Overhead/Down and back and Side/Front Crossover)
- Hip Circles/Twist
- Side Bends
- Leg Swings (Flexion/Extension and Cross-Body flexion/Abduction)
- Lunges
- Double Leg Ankle Bounce

Once I have finished my workout, I normally go for a light 5 minute walk to cool down, then perform the following stretches, again depending on the muscle groups that have been worked during my workout.

Post Workout – Static Stretching (10 seconds hold per side)

- Chest Stretch
- Bicep Stretch
- Upper Back Stretch
- Shoulder and Tricep Stretch
- Side Bends
- Abdominal and Lower Back Stretch
- Quadriceps Stretch
- Hamstring Stretch
- Calf Stretch

How important is the cool down? Does it affect muscle recovery? Soreness?

Cooling down decreases body temperature and will remove any waste products, such as lactic acid, from the muscles that are being used. The other benefits of cooling down include:

- reduction in the potential of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) occurring
- reduction of adrenaline levels in the blood
- reduction in the potential of dizziness or fainting occurring

If you cool down correctly then you will experience greater recovery and you will find you will not be as sore the day after your workout. The best way to cool down is to, first, go for a light walk for around 5-10 minutes after your workout. This helps reduce your body temperature and remove waste products such as lactic acid, from the muscles being used.

When stretching after training, the best types of stretches to perform are static stretches. These stretches help the muscles to relax and will increase their range of movement. Static stretching involves gradually easing into the stretch position and holding that position for a certain period of time. These are best performed after you have cooled down.

All in all, the cooldown process will assist your recovery greatly. You’ll find that you won’t be as sore the day after your workout and your muscles will be able to recover faster reducing your chances of overtraining and instead allowing you to make important progress.

Important Additional Note I: Warm-Up Sets!

Before you perform a heavily weighted movement, PLEASE do warm-up sets for your nervous system’s sake. Warm up sets will provide you with all of the above listed benefits and will be of great assistance in your preparation for working sets. But as with all things you have to do it right and with warm sets there are a lot of common misconceptions made by even the most experienced lifters.

A lot of people believe high reps will warm you up. This is wrong. Working at high repetition ranges will instigate your body to produce lactic acid into the blood. This significantly impairs the nervous system to operate high threshold motor units which are recruited during heavy resistance training. If you are operating in strength rep ranges (1-6 reps) or hypertrophy rep ranges (6-12 reps), then you should go over 6 reps in your warm ups.

Another common myth with warm up sets is that doing low set warm ups e.g. ten reps with the bar then jumping straight into the sets, is sufficient. This again is wrong. It is important you let your nervous system know what is coming and jumping from the bar to a triple figure weight is unreasonable and will not allow you to perform at your ‘true’ maximum, because your CNS is not prepared for this. So it is important to include at least 3-5 warm sets, sometimes more depending on how close you are working to your 1RM.

e.g. 1 You are aiming to do 4 work sets with 250lbs for 2-4 reps

Warm up set 1: Bar Only: 1 x 45lbs x 5 reps
Warm up set 2: 50% 4RM = 1 x 125lbs x 4 reps
Warm up set 3: 75% 4RM = 1 x 185lbs x 3 reps
Warm up set 4: 90% 4RM = 1 x 225lbs x 2 reps
Warm up set 5: 95% 4RM = 1 x 240lbs x 1 rep
Work sets: 100% 4RM = 4 x 250lbs x 2-4 reps

e.g. 2 You are aiming to do 3 work sets with 160lbs for 8-10 reps

Warm up set 1: Bar Only: 1 x 45lbs x 6 reps
Warm up set 2: 50% 10RM = 1 x 80lbs x 6 reps
Warm up set 3: 80% 10RM = 1 x 130lbs x 4 reps
Work sets: 100% 10RM = 3 x 160 x 8-10 reps

Important Additional Note II: Pain When Stretching…

If you are stretching properly you should only feel a mild discomfort in the antagonist muscle at the most. If you feel any significant pain or discomfort before, during or after stretching or athletic activity then it is important to identify the origin of the problem. Severe pain will normally point towards an injury of some sort, so if this occurs do not continue with stretching or exercising until you have fully recovered. Muscular pain can most likely be linked to:

- torn tissue (microscopic tears of muscle fibres/connective tissue - microtrauma)
- muscle spasms (decreased flow of blood to the active muscles causing protective reflex contractions)
- metabolic accumulation (overexertion causing waste products such as lactic acid to accumulate in muscles)

[ravadongon]

continued...

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

There are many supplements on the market that will help shorten the amount of time needed for you to recover from a workout. A few of these supplements may be ones you are most likely already taking:

Protein

Protein is known as the building blocks of muscle. Protein is plays a very important role in the recovery process as it constructs and repairs our damaged muscle fibres (a result of resistance training). Supplementing protein, is an easy way to get enough protein into your diet. Recommended times for taking whey protein (fast digesting protein) supplements are before and after workouts. Recommended times for taking casein and protein blends (medium to slow digesting proteins) are prior to sleeping.

Amino Acids

Protein is the building blocks of muscle, amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Amino acid supplements are composed of a useful blend of amino acids for the human body. Amino acid supplements are best taken in doses pre and post workout. Popular amino acid supplements are BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids) products and glutamine products.

Creatine

Creatine is known to increase the amount of ATP stored in muscles, providing us with more energy. It also has other benefits one which includes, improved recovery abilities. Creatine is generally taken pre workout, but is sometimes also taken post workout.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is generally renowned for boosting the immune system, and that alone is a good enough reason to take it, however it does have numerous other benefits useful to athletes. It strengthens bones and connective tissue as well as reducing the secretion of cortisol in the body, allowing muscles to recover better and hence grow. The recommended dosage of vitamin c per day is 1000mg, and should be spread out over the day into 2 servings.

Bibliography and Helpful Links

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi51.htm - great article on how to warm up for different types of activites (weight training and athletic performances)

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/warmup.htm - article on warming up and cooling down

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/dynamic.htm - how to do dynamic stretches (pre workout)

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/stretch.htm - how to do static stretches (post workout)

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/injury.htm - article on injury prevention

http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/docs/rec/stretching/stretching_4.html#SEC29 - different types of stretching explained

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/recovery.htm - popular recovery supplements

[bigcalves]

How Important Is Warming Up?







Go across gyms and schools in the the world and you will see people stretching and warming up. Might it be the local elementary school, the college athletes or even the professionals, everyone is stretching and warming up before their event or activity. As we were young, going to school and gym class, we were educated about the importance of stretching before gym class so you don't get an 'owwie'. These rules still apply now as we are older. Some might think not, but as you get older and you activities get more vigorous it's even more important to stretch. Don't take for granted that 10 minutes you have before your workout session and waste it on checking out the hot girl in front of you. Grab a mat, and even join that girl in stretching before lifting weights. Always remember that stretching will help your muslces loosen up and get ready for the load ahead. Remember that stretching is not something little kids do and that you should always stretch and warm up before your workout or activity. I've seen people pull muscles in the 100 dash, which is a short amount of time that can cost you months or even years to rehibilitate. Warming up is something that should be taken seriously, it's almost like a workout away from the workout. It doesn't take that long, and you are taking a big risk of injury if you don't warm/sterch before you do something. Stretching out and warming up can actually accelerate your gains and results. That way your muscles are fully stretched and ready to go. By stretching you make blood flow faster, and that's how muscles are fed. So if you start stretching you just might overcome that platueau you have been stuck at. It's fun and not hard. Think of all the problems you can prevent by warming up.




- Up to 75% of gym go-ers don't warm/stretch
- Most people think it takes too much time
- In almost every gym there is a place to stretch out and warm up
- Takes about 10 minute of your time
- Can save you from injuries and problems
- Can benefit and help you out on your goals
- Should be done before and after (cool down stretch)
- Prevents you from pulling a muscle
- It's beneficial and fun






BEFORE WORKOUT




Warming up and stretching before your workout is beneficial. It will help you loosen up and that way you will prevent tons of injuries. Also it will help you get the best of your ability since you muscle will be stretched, and it will be filled with blood flow which will garantee higher strenght and full capability. If you always stuggle with that extra rep and can't get that bar up, don't worry. If you warm up and stretch you will be fine and you will get the benefits. Think about it, it will take only 10 minutes of your time, why not do it and see what happens. Chances are you will notice a positive change. None of my clients have ever said that they feel worse and their performance has gone down. Sure there have been some non-responders but as a whole, it is positive. Higher reps, higher strenght and endurance can be observed as trainees warm up and stretch before their workout.




STRETCHING



Stretching before your workout is crucially important. It will give extra blood flow to your muscles which you need and happens anyways but you also need it as fast as you can. Also it will warm up the tendons and joints. Tendons and joints are important. Think of them as the 'managers' of the muscles. Sure the muscle does all the work, but it need a join and tendon to end it, and close the motion. Otherwise you would be curling and benching at the same time ( just kidding). By warming up the joints and tendons you will decrease the chance of injury. I've once seen a guy try and military press 225 without warming up. Big, strong guy, looked like he can handle it. He did one, then two, then on the third rep I heard a loud cracking sound and his left shoulder leveled down. Ouch. Can you imagine the kind of pain he was in. Oh boy, and to think that he could have prevented that by spending 10 minutes of his time warming up his shoulders and rotator cuffs. What a mistake. Not stretching can cause your whole career to end, and that can be devastating for young guys that are starting out, on the verge of glory and then it all ends, in a split seconds you injure youself and commit 'bodybuilding suicide'. Anyways, remember to stretch after your workout and always play it smart!



- Helps prevent injuries
- Helps ease work of joints and tendons
- Warms up the joints and tendons for heavy lifting
- Not hard to do
- Takes little time
- It's smart and all the pros do it




WARMING UP


Warming up can be confused with stretching. By warming up we mean increasing your temperature and your blood flow to muscles. To warm up I would wear a warm up suit. These can be found at www.bodybuilding.com/store. They are very beneficial and will help you keep your muscles warm throughout your workout. Remember that warming up and stretching should not take more than 10-15 minutes, so don't make it a workout and later complain that it is too much. Perform a job for about 2-4 minutes. While wearing the warm up suit which will increase your temperature, and get your 'juices going'. That way blood flow will reach the muscle before you start working it out adn that will help you avoid injury, and increase your performance. After getting a small sweat goin, stretch for the remainer of the period with the warm up suit on. After that remove you suit and hit the weights! See how simple it is? I have actually seen Jay Cutler at trainign and he swears by warming up. Even when working out arms, you can see that kid with his suit on always. He removes it for a set, then puts it back on. Why you ask, well it will help to keep his temperature high, which will help him with his training and progress.



- Prevents injury
- More blood flow to muscles
- Higher muscle performance
- Takes little time
- Not hard to do
- The pros do it





AFTER WORKOUT




STRETCHING




Yes, even after your workout stretching will help. By stretching you will get that lactic acid out of threre and will be able to recover faster. Lactic acid causes soreness, and that doesn't always feel good. Stretch after your workout and you will minimize the effect and recover at a faster rate. Make sure to drink lots of water which will help. Stretching will lengthen muscles and we all can use that. Also you are treating your joints to extra flexibility and they get stronger as you stretch. This can be beneficial for people that lift heavy and are in danger of tearing up their joints and tendons. Also stretching after a workout feels good. Atleast to me. You get that nice stretch and you muscle is tired it's almost like a massage. Always stretch after your workout. Sure it might be as long but make sure to get those muscles stretched and relaxed before you hit the showers. Although some people like stretching as water pours on them, nothing wrong with that. I prefer doing it before my shower so I can completely relax and not do anything but to each his own. Do whatever feels good to your body and whatever makes you recover and grow faster.



- Feels good
- Gets rid of lactic acid
- Reduces soreness
- Longers muscles
- Relaxes you
- Not hard to do




How important is the cool down? Does it affect muscle recovery? Soreness?

Coold down is pretty important. It will help with both soreness and recovery. See, with all the lactic acid, by stretching and cooling down you will be able to get rid of it. Now don't expect to never be sore, but it will go down. You will notice how stronger and painless you feel after your cool down. It will decrease, not eliminate, soreness and help you recover faster. With increased blood flow, you will recover way faster since you muscle is getting fed with more nutrients at a faster rate. If you consume your PWO right after you stretch, you will have increased blood flow that will help you. Also consider the effect of the cool down. Insead of lowering its temperature and other facotrs dramatically, your body lowers them gradually which lets it take it easy, and get out of the shock you just put on it during the intense workout. Always remember that nutrition and training is important, but faster muscle recovery and less soreness is always beneficiall and a part of the 'game'. By cooling down gradually you body is in a smaller chance of getting in a injury after your workout. Sure you are done lifting, but you ain't down breathing. Make sure that cooling down becomes a part of your daily workout routine. It doesn't have to take hours, just a brisk 10 minute cool down will greatly help your body.







CONTINUED...

[bigcalves]

CONTINUED







BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?



Now remember that supplements only help aid your progress. They don't make your physiqu but rather help you shape it and boost it up. Never rely on supplements, but always be smart and use them to boost your progress. Use them as a tool. During todays market, you can see tons and tons of supplements on the market. Stores and the internet are filled with them. Some help you loose this, some help you gain that. Always rely on trainig, nutrition and recovery for succeeding in what you do. But never forget supplements because they can help you overcome and give you a slight boost in times of need. Always use them smartly and follow all directions on labels and never abuse them. Here are some of the best supplements that will help you recover and meet your goals. Remember that bodybuilding.com/store offers all of them at affordable prices and best quality. No matter what, i strongly suggest supplements, and the best place to get them for an affordable price and excellent quality is Bodybuilding.com's store. There you will find everything you need, filled with tons of articles and places that can give you a very close look in the world of supplements. Although famous, these few supplements are very effective and not that expensive.




Whey Protein
No matter how hard you try, nothing replaces good old whey. It has a fast digestion rate, and comes in very pure form. By taking whey, you can increase your protein uptake by 50-150 grams per day which is very time saving and efficient. Whey is a must for after a workout since your muscles are tired and need to be replenished. Also when you wake yup, whey is the best choice for protein in my opinion.



Creatine
Creatine is used by tons of people world wide. It is safe, 100% natural and effective. From Olympians to gym rats, people use creatine. It gives an extra boost when working out. It can also help you gain more muscle and better your lifts. It boosts up the ATP energy which is responsible for short, drastic muscle movements. Perfect for weightlifters all around, creatine is a must for bulking up.



L-Glutamine
L-Glutamine is an amino acid. It is a 100% natural and safe supplement. It is used mainly for recovery. It can help you recover faster from the hard leg or back workout that you had. That way intensity and recovery for your workouts is at an all time high. L-Glutamine also helps maintain a positive Nitrogen balance which is very healthy for your body.



Multi-Vitamins
These days everyone takes Multi-Vitamins. That is a very smart choice. Since we all need vitamins, and we can't always eat every fruit out there, so Multi-Vitamins are a very wise choice for any diet. Since you are bulking, you need vitamins to maintain your body healthy. From all the workouts and stress that you put on it, it's a must that you have vitamins to replenish and rebuild. Always a must for every bodybuilder.



Good Luck!

[Semtex]

I was in the middle of pasting my edited version but it wouldnt work. Now the edit button is gone, does anyone know what happened?

[Semtex]

[Sorry for taking up so much room, but I couldnt edit my other post]


“Hey you! Go warm up!”


Echoes in my head, as I remember Coach White screaming at us in the weight room.

Often you hear the phrase “warming up” and you automatically associate it with weight lifting, but it also expands to other sports and has many benefits. You hear it often, but do you even know what warming up actually is? The dictionary defines it as:
warm-up
n : exercising in preparation for strenuous activity [syn: tune-up, prolusion]

This is exactly what warming up is! This is a solid belief that lay in the minds of many lifters, and as usual... popular beliefs accompany themselves with many myths. But I am here to tell you the facts about warming up.

Warming up, in a bodybuilder/weight lifter's sense means properly building yourself up to a weight you are trying to lift. Warm ups usually consist of a brisk 5-10 minute jog on the treadmill, 5-6 minutes jumping rope(personal favorite because it makes me feel like Rocky), and then by pyramiding weight up for your exercise you are about to do. Deadlifting, Squatting, and Bench-pressing are all huge compound movements which always require a good amount of warming up, due to the fact they they involve many muscles. More muscles, more room for error and injury. Bicep tears, shin splints, pulled hamstrings, I have experienced them all but I have YET to be faced with a torn Pectoral/Quadricep/Lat. I take many precautions when I deal with big compound movements, because when I lift heavy there is no room for error.

Pyramiding your weight:

As the weight of your Deadlift, Squat, and Bench go up, you must adjust accordingly to warming up. Pyramid your weight starting low.
Lets say your 1RM(One Rep Max) is 200. And you want to test your 1RM.

Start out at about 50%, load up 100 lbs. Do it 8 times.
Then go up to 75%, load up 150 lbs. Do it 6 times.
Afterwards go up to 90%, load up 180 lbs. Do it twice.
Take a bit of a break and then finally load up 200 lb and do it.

This situation is for maxing out, but it can also be used in normal work-outs. But instead shorten the reps and go deeper, faster. Go at about 60%, 80%, and then 100% of the weight that you are semi-comfortable at (6-8 reps). It is important to warm up, but its just as important not to fatigue yourself with it. I see people doing 7 sets for warm up, what the heck is that?! If your warm up for bench is 7 sets, I do not even want to see your actual work-out. That is overkill. Use logic when you lift! If you know in your gut what your doing is stupid, don’t do it. You rep 150 and you never tried past 160? Don’t GO benching 200, you will just tear a muscle and it will set you out of commission for a while. Common sense and logic is your best friend.




The key benefits of warming-up are:

-Increase in muscle temperature through whole body temperature
Muscles that are warmed up are naturally more lubricated with fluid which is more suitable for explosive movements like squating, benching, or whatever you are planning to do. A cold muscle is more likely to tear than a warm muscle.

-Increase in efficiency of neural pathways used in physical activities which leads to enhancement in muscle coordination
A neural pathway is a neural tract connecting one part of the nervous system with another, usually consisting of bundles of elongated, myelin insultated neurons, known collectively as white matter. Neural pathways serve to connect relatively distant areas of the brain or nervous system, compared to the local communication of grey matter. Basically efficiency in neural pathways is a good thing, which will help your coordination- and help keep you focused throughout your workout.

-Metabolic activity of the muscles
When the muscles are stimulated through warming up, they go through a metabolic phase. Cells undergo chemical changes by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated. New cells are created, your body gets to work, providing you with the energy to work out.

-Increase in blood flow to the muscles, therefore increase in O2 uptake
As blood flows to the muscles, the muscles receive nutrients that are essential to growth. Increase in oxygen will also help keep your body endure the grueling task of repairing/strengthening your muscles.

-Improve range of movement, which in turn increases flexibility and improve muscles ability to react swiftly and efficiently
Simply by warming up, again your muscles are lubricated. It gets rid of stiffness throughout your whole body, which makes you more flexible.

-Reduce risk of injury
The single most important benefit, all these changes are going through your body while you warm up. So basically your shielding yourself from injury by taking a good precaution, and warming up.


Basic Ballistic Stretching

With ALL the benefits of warming up, why shouldn’t you do it?! Now that you have been introduced to warming up, meet its cousins “Stretching” and “Cooling down”. Though, the sequences of Stretching, Cooling down, and Warming up are highly debated among fitness enthuses… in my opinion Warming up should always be first, which is then followed by Cooling down, and then stretching. I will go into further detail why stretching isn’t as essential to US in the BEGINNING, as it is in other sports.

Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. Stretching isn’t just bending over to touch your feet for 5 seconds, but it also is a process which adapts your body to what it has just undergone. I truly believe that stretching after a work out will help you with its long-term and shor-term benefits.

Short-term
-The day after a work out you will be GLAD that you took the time to stretching because stretching has been proven to get rid of stiffness post work-out.
- Reduce muscle tension in make the body feel more relaxed
- Increase range of motion
- Improve coordination by allowing for freer any easier movement

Long-term
-Though, stretching wont make you Mr. Fantastic overnight, it has been proven in studies that in long-term studies, the average human being will adapt to stretching and increase their flexibility! Imagine 5 years from now being able to do back flips all you want, and being able to do the splits! Even though a man like Ronnie Coleman is admired for his size, he isn’t exactly the stiff macho-man he is made out to be. Ronnie Coleman can actually do the splits, which is a sight to see. You maybe his size in a matter of years, so it’s probably best to stay flexible.

Stretching routines are fairly simple to follow, don’t think of it as another workout. Make your stretches fun, I maybe come off as sounding like a Yoga instructor but trust me, I am far from that. Instead of only stretching muscles that you recently used, start by stretching as many muscles as you can. This will help promote better growth in the long run. You should also know that stretching was believed to be better Pre work-out but recent studies prove that if you DO stretch BEFORE a work-out, it can drastically reduce your strength. If your strength is reduced, you cant lift as much, which will lower your potential of growth.

Here are some solid rules to follow when stretching:

-Begin each movement by getting into the right starting position
-Relax your state of mind and your muscles
-Slowly move into the stretch
-The muscles should continue to relax throughout the stretch
-As they relax, slowly increase and hold a developmental stretch
-Hold the stretch 20 to 30 seconds or longer
-Slowly release the limb you are stretching

[Semtex]

Stretches


Hamstring Stretch
-Lay on on the floor, and cross your legs, and placing the bottoms of your feet together and pressing lightly will stretch your legs out. You can push down lightly on both of your knee caps, trying to get a nice range of motion.
Glutes and Hamstrings
-Lunges are an excellent way to stretch the glutes and the hamstrings. With one good full motion, place your right/left foot 3-4 feet in front of you. Keep your back leg stiff and horizontal. As you get more advanced, you can incorporate weights, by holding a dumbbell in each arm. (When you do whole football fields of these, youll feel it the next day. Trust me.)
Hamstrings
-Stand in an upright position and cross one leg over the other, bend over and try to touch your palms to the floor. This will also stretch out your legs.
Biceps and Triceps
-Place your palm flat against a wall, hold your deltoid area with your other hand. Press and twist, this will stretch your biceps.
Deltoid Stretch
-Start out by holding your elbow of your right/left arm behind your head and by gently pulling on it until you have surpassed your point of comfort.
Abdominal Stretch
-Hyperextentions are a great way to stretch your abs, you can even add weights after you are comfortable with your body weight.
Pectoral Stretch
-I like doing push ups for stretching my pecs. It also gets them warmed up nicely.
Calves
-Just doing some body weight calf raises will stretch out your calves. Stand up straight and lift your body off the ground by bringing your heels off the ground.

Flex
-Posing! Posing after a work-out may seem vain, but many bodybuilders do it. It stretches the muscle a bit, it inflates your ego, and its always nice to show off those muscles you worked so hard for. I always like to hit random people with my double bi. :-)

You can stretch accordingly to make sure all your muscles are all stretched out.

My stretching routine is usually what my body tells me. I do all the stretches above daily, and incorporate some new stretches every so often to keep things new and fresh. Always listen to your body, and make sure it tells you what it needs. As time goes on, you can delve deeper into stretching, as far as technique and routines. Dynamic Stretching is a bit too advanced for a beginner, as it requires a lot of patience and it delivers an immense amount of pain. This will likely turn you away from stretching, so just stick with the basics for now. As you get more advanced, you can get into Dynamic Stretching. This will stimulate Hyperplasia (Splitting of the Muscle Fibers), which will result in fuller looking muscles.

Here is a link to a good discussion on the benefits of Dynamic Stretching:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=523175





Cooling Down
Cooling down is almost as important as warming up, but in some cases more important. Cooling Down usually refers to cardio but it can also apply itself to other strenuous activities. Let me start off by telling you a story.


*Slowly fades into memory mode*
I remember back in my Junior year of high school. I just signed up for weight training class and the first day our teacher Coach White told us what we needed to do to get an A in the class. He wanted us to bench our own weight three times, be able to do 25 push ups with a 3 second interval between each one, and be able to run 5 miles in under one hour. The first two tasks were easy because I could easily work myself up to it, but RUN FIVE MILES?! I was an ectomorph weighing in at about 137 lbs and I got pretty winded after a single mile. My best time was 7:37 so I was terrified of the Five miles. The time came at the end of the semester when I had to run it, and I started the first mile by jogging lightly until I was covered in a light sweat, the second to third mile I was jogging on, still going at a decent speed. The fourth mile hit me like a brick wall, but I persevered and I walked a bit until I was at 4 and a half miles. I sprinted the last half and I was done. I collapsed and went STRAIGHT INTO THE WEIGHT ROOM! I lifted for about half an hour and I went home and took a cool shower and fell asleep. The next morning…you knew what happened. My whole body shutdown, every inch of my body was aching. I felt like I was Rocky Balboa and I just fought Clubber Lang, Apollo Creed and the big Russian the night before. It took me about a week or two to fully recover, that is how I know the importance of cooling down.

Now that you have been formally known about my painful mistake first-hand, I can tell you why I felt like I did.
Cooling down will do all these wonderful things and more:

-Lengthen muscles.
When you stretching your muscles, they have to adapt to what you are doing to them. They do this by lengthening themselves. This will in turn, beat the muscles up fairly good- but this is what working out is about. Destroying your muscles and then letting them heal to grow bigger and stronger. Muscles will protect themselves by contracting and bunching up once you have stopped destroying them, this will shorten the muscle. Eventually it will stretch back to a good length once it is repaired, but this will still leave it shorter than it was before. In order to keep your muscle length, you must stretch!

-Reduces muscle stiffness
When you work the muscles they use up Oxygen and produce Carbon Dioxide and Lactic acid. These waste products are all taken away by your blood, but when you stop exercising, any waste left in the muscle will not be removed as fast. As your time goes on, the waste products will make your muscles stiff when they eventually cool down. If you can remove all possibly waste products that you physically can before the muscles cool down, then they will be less stiff afterwards. All you can do is to get rid of the waste the best you can, by cooling down. You will never remove all the waste, but you can help remove a large portion by doing this.

-Increases your flexibility
By exercising joints they will disperse waste products and improve mobility. Ligaments and joints do not have a good access to a blood supply so any waste products that enter, will stay for an elongated amount of time. But they do not collect as much waste so its ok.

[Semtex]

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

Recovery Supplements

There are so many supplements in the world today that its very easy to become confused on what to buy, and you may even buy into the ad campaign of the product rather than the actual product itself. Well I am here to list the recovery products that I use, in order of in importance.

-1 Whey
Whey is always a must in recovery, before you even touch any other canister, bottle, or jar you should always turn to your best friend- protein. Protein will never turn its back on you, it will always give itself fully, to help you build your muscle promote great growth. I use Optimum Nutrition Whey simply for the fact that it is cheap, great tasting, and it’s given me great results. I have tried numerous whey products but they never lasted the test of time, because a frothy chocolate shake is always welcome anytime of the day, but you can easily grow tired of lemonade, berry, all that other fruity stuff. My secret is to add a tablespoon of…Nesquik! It will make it very airy, sweet and add tons of flavor.

-2 Multivitamin
Lets face it people. Due to poor agricultural farming, over production, pesticide infestation, and many other horrible things- we can never all get the vitamins we need from our food nowadays. Eating all our wheaties, vegetables, and milk just wont cut it anymore. We need a reliable source of vitamins and multivitamins are our answers. It is hard for me to put it in a simpler way than this, so I will quote it straight out of bodybuilding.com‘s great book “Get the Pump: The Last Word in Bodybuilding”. “A good vitamin/mineral supplement is like a cop for your muscles. You don’t always need cops. But when you do need them, boy, are you glad they’re here. Same with vitamins and minerals. If you eat well, you might not always need a vitamin/mineral supplement. But there will be times when you do.”

-3 Glutamine
Glutamine is basically a product which will reduce muscle atrophy when cutting, or help grow muscle when bulking. It is a great product which many bodybuilders and other athletes swear by, it helps in protein metabolism and also is stored deep within our muscle cells, so be sure to refill on your glutamine.

Pre-Workout Supplements

-1 Green Tea
I truly believe Green Tea is underrated in the world of athleticism. Green Tea is high in anti oxidants, so it will flush all the toxins out of your body. It will relieve oxidative stress, protects skin from ultraviolet light, and it has a very high caffeine content. The high caffeine content will keep you energized and ready to blast through your workout. I always drink at least 10 oz of it pre-workout because it always seems to help me.

-2 No-Xplode
No-Xplode is always a great Nitric Oxide product. The caffeine that it contains will keep you mentally focused and make you feel confident. It has been known to give Vascular pumps immediately after consumption and give better performance, strength and endurance. I usually take No-Xplode as a pick-me-up on those days when your not quite feeling it.

Post-Workout Supplements

-1 Whey
Whey will always be my number one and only Post-Workout supplement. I do not like to put a lot of foreign substances in my body unless I know how they are going to react, but Whey is always useful. Protein post-workout will go straight into the blood stream and provide your muscles with the material it needs to grow. There is a 30-45 minute time span in which you MUST supply your muscles with sufficient protein, which will further increase your potential for growth.


References:

http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/Web...tretchwarm.html
Basics of Warming up and Cooling Down

http://www.westrock.net/warming_up_and_stretching.htm
Stretching and Warming up

http://www.answers.com/topic/neural-pathway
Information for Nervous System and Brain

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/jhr.php
Dynamic Stretches

“Get the PUMP: The Last Word in Bodybuilding” By: Scott Abel, Chris Cormier, Jonathan Coyne, Jay Cutler, Mat Duval, Nick Evans, Charles Glass, King Kamali.

[Semtex]

Word.

[sword chucks]

The forgotten elements of training: Warming Up, Stretching, and Cooling Down

Introduction

Warming up, stretching and cooling down correctly are fundamental, yet often overlooked parts of any training program. While these components to training are very basic, many people tend to skip over a proper warm up, stretch and cool down program and wonder why they do not feel ready to work out. I call these aspects of training the forgotten elements of training because they are techniques that you never see much of in gyms compared to the amount of work done on heavy sets you see.

Warming up has many benefits. The main benefit to warming up is injury prevention because the blood will be pumping to an area, lowering the chance of a muscle pull or joint injury. Warming up isn’t just a safety precaution though- it also has positive effects on a bodybuilder because after a warmup strength and focus should be peaked. Warming up has many physical and mental benefits.

Stretching and cooling down go hand-in-hand mostly because they come after a workout, whereas a warm up usually precedes a workout. Their main benefit is increasing recovery, and these activities also add to the overall health of the muscles.

This article will not only discuss the many ways in which a warm-up, stretch and cool down program is important, but it will also provide some methods to warming up, stretching and cooling down and some useful tips on how to do a proper but time-efficient warmup! While it will focus on warming up for a hardcore hypertrophy-inducing workout with weights, this article will also give methods of warming up for other activities such as athletic activities, a strength workout, or an endurance workout, and methods for a cool down and stretch that will maximize recovery and progress!

An Injured Bodybuilder Can’t Gain Mass!

An injury is the last thing any bodybuilder wants. You can miss a meal here and there if you absolutely must, you can skip the last 5 minutes of your cardio session if you need to be somewhere, but if you skip your warmup and end up with a muscle pull, you’re not gaining optimally for the next month or so.

Warming up is injury-preventative in many ways. It increases flexibility and blood flow which limits the chance of a muscle pull and joint pain. A proper warmup also gets the lifter in a groove for their exercise.

Increasing flexibility

Warming up is a great way to increase flexibility before a heavy set. Training the muscles through an identical range of motion to the lift that is to be done stretches the muscle properly and prevents a pull of any muscle about to be trained.

Let’s say a lifter is getting their legs ready for a set of full barbell squats, 355 pounds for 5 reps. They get into the gym and their legs are a bit tight. They head over to the squat rack and get under the bar. They squat down and can hardly get to parallel. Luckily, they can push a light weight back up. If they had skipped a warmup and jumped right into 355 pounds, it would have pushed their legs past the maximum stretch point and chances are a muscle pull would result.

Lubricating the joints

So the same lifter decides to hit the treadmill for 3 minutes to get the blood and oxygen pumping into their legs. When he gets back to the squat rack with his warmup weight, he finds himself much more flexible. After twelve warmup reps his knees are completely lubricated as well, and there is no cracking or popping to be heard.

”Getting into the groove”

Getting into the groove for an exercise is also important. Take as many sets as you need until the form for an exercise feels natural. Once all the kinks are worked out, a proper warm up has been completed- get started!

Warming Up for Optimal Results

A lot of times a lifter will get to the gym and get right into their heavy sets with no warmup. Then they come on bodybuilding.com and read this article. “Okay, I’ll do one warmup with the bar, that will help a lot I guess”. Maybe it helped a little bit but a proper warm-up can do you a lot better.

Step one of the warmup

The first focus of a warmup should be to give the muscles a light pump. This is best accomplished by completing 1-2 sets of 8-12 reps with a very easy weight. This step will make the muscles ready for heavy warm up sets and eventually the working sets. It will also get you in the groove and in the mood to lift. So for our lifter squatting 355X5, his first two sets could look like this:

135X12
225X8

Step two of the warmup

The next step in the warmup is to get your muscles ready for heavy weights to failure! The next two sets should come pretty close to the weight that will be used for the first working set, but will only be 1 or 2 reps- this is so that you don’t fatigue your muscles and so you don’t induce any micro trauma too early. These two sets can look like this (for our 355X5 squatter):

275X3
325X1-2

Step three of the warmup

What could come next? I know what you’re saying. “Don’t say the next step in the warmup is the working set!” No, that is not it! The next step is to make sure you get a FULL 2-3 MINUTES REST after your last heavy warm-up. This will let the minimal amount of fatigue that did occur clear out but is also a short enough time so that the muscles maintain elevated blood flow,

The total warmup- how you should feel as it goes on

135X12 this should feel a little uncomfortable and a lot of times a lifter will feel weak here
225X8 this is work but you should start feeling stronger
275X3 wow! This feels very heavy for you! But it’s just a mental block that will be eliminated. That is why a heavy warmup is beneficial!
325X1 this set should feel a little heavy but solid.
355X5 after you are prepared from all of those warm ups this set should feel solid.

After this, YOU DO NOT REPEAT THE WARMUP PROCESS! Simply continue doing heavy sets (most lifters do 2-4 sets of one exercise).

After you have done a warm-up for one muscle group you do not need to do an in-depth warmup for each following exercise. For example, if the next exercise is stiff leg deadlifts, a light set of 60% of the working weight for 8 reps is an adequate warmup.

Another point to note is that it is best to warm-up each muscle using the first exercise that is to be done. For example, if it is your leg day and you are doing squats first, don’t use the leg extension to warm up- get in that squat rack and do a few sets! This will increase flexibility to the specific exercise and will also increase body awareness for that exercise.

At times a weight will feel oddly heavy or oddly light due to various reasons. If this ever happens just perform another warm-up set with the weight and the heavy feeling should go away. The best way to enter a working set is with a sense of confidence and strength without fatigue and that is what this warm-up method accomplishes.

Getting Your Nerve Through a Warmup Routine

Have you ever felt nervous or edgy before a big set of squats on leg day, or in the hour before you go for the new deadlift record? This always happens to me personally. It is natural. Why does it happen? Who knows? Maybe thousands of years ago, underdeveloped primates were crushed as they carried heavy items back to their caves in a squat position. These days we have squat racks which prevents this from occurring, but whatever the reason, we must overcome this.

During my warm-up sets I like to take that time to get my nerve together. For squats, deadlifts or bench presses my warm-ups sometimes take around 10 minutes, and this is a good time to get your head on straight and realize that the set is coming.

If you follow the warm-up as described above, you should find that you feel much more confident with the heavy weight because you were acclimated to it already.

(CONTINUED ON NEXT POST)

[sword chucks]

Warming Up for Other Activities

This article is mainly focused on warming up for a bodybuilding workout. However, as a bodybuilder, in our quest to fitness we want to perform optimally in anything we do and more importantly finish it injury free.

Warming Up for Sports

To warm up for sports, a sport specific warm-up is usually best. Just like squatting is not a good warm-up on chest day, playing kickball is not a good warm-up on a day of tennis practice.

Instead of going into a bunch of different sports specific warm-ups which has no meaning to all of us bodybuilders (unless the warm-up is for a posing routine) I will just say that a general total body warm-up benefits any athlete. This total body warmup can consist of light exercises with dumbbells, but most of the time the warmup is things like 20 jumping jacks, 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, and 3 laps around the field. This gets blood flowing all over since all areas of the body are used in a sport.

Warming Up for Maximal Strength Performance

The thought that bodybuilders should focus on strength gains over all other things is spreading. We want to do whatever we can to use the most weight we can and cause micro trauma in every single workout! So a strength-training warm up is a lot like the bodybuilding warm-up outlined above.

Some things differ though. For strength training, more warm-up sets should be completed, but each one should only be of a very low rep count. This prevents fatigue. Stretching should not be done because it will put the muscle in an un-contracted position, weakening it. It may be of some benefit to stretch opposite muscle groups to the ones about to be trained (such as hanging from a pullup bar before your set of military presses). If a muscle is very tight, lightly stretch it. Finally, do not spend unnecessary energy on the treadmill or the elliptical bike- just get right to the lift. Maxing out on an exercise requires maximum energy and specific focus on one area.

Warming Up for Endurance Performance

This one is kind of funny. How do you warm up for a jog? In most cases, a jog IS a warm up! You might do a little walking to start but really, most people just jump right into a jog. It is the same way with a very high rep weighted exercise or any other endurance activity.

Most of the time, before performing an endurance set it is alright to jump right in, but one set prior to performing the exercise will help you get focused and make sure your form is perfect.

Benefits to Stretching

Just like people underestimate the importance of a proper warm-up, many underestimate the importance of stretching. Seems like all most lifters want to do is jump right into working sets and then leave! Taking some time after a workout to stretch can be just as beneficial as taking time before a workout to warm up and acclimate to an exercise.

Stretching can prevent a lot of problems such as muscle tightness, muscle soreness, and the common problem to bodybuilders known as becoming “muscle bound”.

Preventing muscle tightness and soreness

There is a sort of scale that the muscles have that pertains to how stretched they are or how contracted they are. On one end is an extremely stretched muscle. On the other is an extremely contracted muscle. A healthy muscle lies somewhere in-between. While working out a muscle becomes extremely tight. A proper stretch routine can limit this tightness, thus preventing injuries.

It is a proven fact that stretching decreases the amount of muscle soreness after a workout. Not only is it proven scientifically but many lifters have experienced it. To effectively limit muscle soreness, the price might be a very painful stretch, but this is what we call “temporary pain, long term gain”. What is worse, gritting your teeth and doing a 60 second stretch after training each muscle group, or having to grit your teeth because it hurts to do simple activities because of muscle soreness all day?

Muscle-bound what?

It is a common idea that from all of our working out, us bodybuilders become completely inflexible and “muscle bound”. But this is no myth! If you do not stretch, you will fall victim to this trap! It might not be as bad as it sounds but why lose flexibility? It will only affect you negatively.

Look at bodybuilders like Tom Platz and Arnold Schwarzenegger. These are two bodybuilders that relied heavily on stretching. Arnold always said that to get a fully developed muscle you need to stretch. Both bodybuilders based their stretching routines on the fact that the more a muscle stretches, the stronger it can contract. Arnold states that “Bodybuilders like Ed Corney, known as perhaps the best poser in modern bodybuilding, could never move with such beauty if their muscles, tendons, and ligaments were tight and constricted.” (150, Schwarzenegger)

It is also proven that as a bodybuilder develops, the muscle separation suffers due to gravity and other reasons. Stretching is the cure for this problem! Over time, stretching can greatly aid a bodybuilder’s muscle separation. It might not show right away but when you hit the stage you will be glad you took time to stretch out.

Stretching routine

What? We need a warmup routine, a weight lifting routine, AND a routine for stretching? Yeah. Getting a routine for your stretches will help any bodybuilder to be more consistent with it because it isn’t just something you do on occasion any more, you are now integrating it into your schedule.

Stretching before a workout

There is a lot of controversy these days about pre-workout stretching. The truth is that it will not make a huge difference if a bodybuilder does some light stretches before a workout. But do you remember that scale of stretchedness that I mentioned before? Before a workout, to achieve an optimal muscle building environment for a bodybuilder or optimum strength for an athlete or strength-focused lifter, healthy muscles that fall close to the middle of that scale is what we want.

If you stretch too much you put the muscles in a non-contracted position, which will hurt performance. However, at times a stretch can be very beneficial. If a muscle is too tight a stretch can loosen it up enough so it is in a healthy state.

Finally, before a workout there is not as much blood pumping to and from the muscles as after a workout, which is why it could cause pain or injury.

Stretching after a workout

Directly after a workout is the best time to stretch. You will not have to worry about possibly hurting performance. Also, after a workout the muscles are very tight. Finally, the muscles are pumped up with blood and oxygen, giving them a better range of motion. After a workout stretching will greatly benefit you while any negative effects would be prevented.

Stretches for each muscle group

Stretching of a muscle is cause by the pull of an antagonist muscle. After the negative phase of an exercise, or the lengthening phase, the muscles are fully stretched. Therefore, a good stretch for any muscle is simply relaxing at the end of an exercise. For example, after your set of pullups, just hang there, and this will stretch out your back and biceps nicely. Some exercises do not lend themselves so much to stretching though. Would you want to let yourself get squashed by a barbell in a squat position for 60 seconds? I know I would be more worried about balance than the actual quality of the stretch. I will give some simple stretches for each muscle that are safe.

-Quadriceps stretch
Kneel on a mat or on another flat surface. Sit between your feet and let your hands fall behind you for support. The more flexible you are, the further back you will be able to lean. I usually just drop all the way down and try to make my lower back hit the ground and stay that way for 60 seconds minimum. Make sure to hit the legs hard before this or you will not even be able to imagine this stretch!

-Hamstring stretch
Put one foot up on a high bar and lock your leg out. Then try to touch your head to your knee. This stretched the hamstring at both joints, making it very effective.

-Calf stretch
Get on the edge of a machine at your gym where you can let your heel go as far down as possible. Then stretch to the limit and lean forward. You will really feel this!

(CONTINUED ON NEXT POST)

[sword chucks]

-Lat stretch
Hang from a pullup bar with straps for a 60 seconds. Pretty simple and safe. Try varying up the grip for full development!
Another thing I like to do is grab onto a doorknob or the edge of a machine and extend to a full lat stretch and then twist my body. This really hits my lower lats as well.

-Biceps stretch
What I do to stretch biceps is get on an incline bench with my straps and turn my palms away from each other so that the biceps are sticking out directly at my side. What I mean is, with your palms facing behind you, turn your hands 270 degrees, not the short way. Then let your arms hang down.

-Chest stretch
I like to use dumbbells for this (well actually I don’t particularly like any stretch but you get the idea). I get on the flat bench and face my palms towards myself and then arch my back really hard and push my shoulders back as far as possible. After 40 seconds, I take 20 seconds to lower the weights with my biceps so it has an effect like a dumbbell flye.

-Shoulder stretch
This is a more traditional stretch. I put an elbow behind my head and push it back while holding onto the same limb with my other hand. Pretty simple, you have probably seen a lot of people doing this already.

-Tricep stretch
Put your elbow on a flat surface in front of you and put your hand in a bicep curl position. Push down on the forearm of this arm with the opposite hand. It is like you are contracting your biceps really hard actually.

My stretching routine

Something that is more useful for us bodybuilders to know is that stretching will increase the muscle size greatly by expanding connective tissue, giving it more room to grow. Arnold and many others believed in this technique and called it “fascia stretching”. My experiences with this have been great. I saw a huge difference in my muscle development after I added in these stretches- in fact, once I incorporated these, my weight gain began to skyrocket again after I had been stuck at the weight for 1 month! Coincidence? No such thing as a coincidence!

I use all of the stretches above but only those stretches. That can target every muscle effectively, there is no need to take time to stretch out the forearm extensors and flexors and other small muscles such as those.

After the last set for each muscle group in a given workout, I immediately go to my stretching station and perform a stretch for about 60 seconds. For the first 15-30 seconds I am easing into it and in the last 45 or so I am really feeling the pain but I push (not the best word choice mind you) through. Make sure you can look at a clock during these or you will cheat yourself!

Before training a muscle I feel that simply completing a few warm-up sets through a full range of motion is enough to adequately stretch the muscles. If you want to stretch before training make sure to warm up first. My coaches always said “you don’t stretch to warm up you warm up to stretch.” Remember, don’t stretch the muscle too much or you will not allow maximum training results!

My stretching routine has caused explosive growth all over my body. I am still more or less a scrawny punk compared to the bodybuilding greats, but I was amazed when I saw the results from just incorporating one minute of stretching into my workout!

Benefits to the Cool-Down

Like I said before, stretching and cooling-down go hand-in-hand. They allow the muscles to get back to a normal state after training.

Think of a sport practice. After a hard workout loaded with sprinting, hitting, and focusing, an athlete is usually jittery with a highly elevated heart rate. It is beneficial after this to take some time to “unwind”. It is the same for a bodybuilder after any workout.

How important the cool down is

I am going to be honest here. The cool down is NOT the most important part in any training program. However, myself and many others encourage it just because it is worth the one or two minutes that it takes to do a proper cool-down. A cool-down can simply be one light, high rep set for each muscle group to further prevent the muscles from being over-tightened.

Cooling down and recovery

As stated before, a proper cool-down can allow the muscles to lengthen and return to a normal state faster than they would if you had not cooled down. If you stretch properly, that will limit muscle soreness greatly. If you then take the time to cool the system down you can pretty much kiss soreness the day after a workout good-bye (unless you have not trained for the past month or more- but it will still help a great deal!)

As bodybuilders or athletes, we want to do all we can to maximize recovery and maximize the amount of growth we can get in during a short time frame, so we should take every action to maximize recovery!

Conclusion

I hope that after reading this article, you understand the many ways in which warming-up, cooling down and stretching are important. I also am confident that you learned a few tricks to build your own warm-up, cool down, and stretch routine, or if you already have some you can now add some new techniques to them. The methods explained in this article can be useful for people with any type of goal!

Overall, warming up does prevent injuries and maximize lifting performance. Warming up isn’t just a safety precaution though- it also has positive effects on a bodybuilder because after a warmup strength and focus should be peaked. Cooling down and stretching follow a workout and increase recovery greatly while also adding to overall health of the muscles.

Warming up, stretching and cooling down properly are often overlooked yet integral parts of any training program. They are very basic and traditional aspects of any athletic activity, but are often overlooked in the gym where they can be even more beneficial than in the field. These elements of training should become more commonly used in the future by those wishing to maximize performance and recovery! If you have time to exercise, you have time to warm up and cool-down/stretch!

Bonus

Recovery supplements

Before I go into actual supplements, I will take the old-fashioned route and say that NOTHING will aid in recovery like a calorie surplus and a lot of carbohydrates, especially around workouts. Basic food is what makes the difference, supplements just add tiny bits here and there for the most part.

Taking an EFA supplement will naturally boost testosterone levels. Taking Omega 3, 6, and 9’s come in pill form and will help recovery in many ways. Another thing I noticed is that ever since I began consuming 2-4 whole eggs per day, I have felt a lot stronger. Feels like more testosterone to me!

A simple creatine supplement is known to maximize ATP production so that the muscles readily become prepared for the next workout.

Citrulline Malate is called the “new kid on the block” as far as performance enhancers go. This product has effects ranging from limiting waste product build-up to increasing Nitric Oxide production. Both of these things help the body in the recovery cycle.

Pre workout

Pre workout energy and focus boosters have been getting great feedback recently. Sciviation, a great company with a lot of kind people behind it, has produced Neurostim. This product increases alertness and focus in a workout. You can imagine how much this will benefit and if you are having one of those days where you are dogging it in the gym you will wish you had bought neurostim! MRM’s Driven has similar effects while also packing some body composition-helping effects.

Taking a shake with amino acids and glucose is proven to greatly increase availability of both before a workout. This will really improve performance in any activity. The glucose provides a “carbed-up” feeling while the amino acids, which means things like glutamine and Taurine, will further aid energy and strength!

Post workout

There are two things to think of post workout. You should look to replenish muscle glycogen. This will increase the muscles’ energy for the next workout (not to mention post workout carbohydrates get sapped up into the muscles like water into a sponge). Also, think of reversing the catabolic processes that take place after a workout. NOW Dextrose does both things. Dextrose is the one carbohydrate that has the biggest effect on muscle glycogen stores and is the fastest absorbing.

What I recommend is to sip on a glucose and amino acid solution through your workout. Nothing too major, just 20-30 grams of glucose and 10 grams or so of amino acids. You can also put in any other supplements you use such as your creatine or citrulline malate and create a great recovery-aiding cocktail.

The main thing to think about post workout is not how many milligrams of Super Placebo RX you get in but getting in a good amount of carbs and protein so you feel re-fueled and simple supplementation can accomplish this just fine.


(THE END)

[sword chucks]

Word document

[muscleboy333]

Word document
Just had to show me up didn't you? :D

[Ifrit]

Do you guys have jobs,lol.

[Semtex]

Word document

And the winner, by knock out. Weighing in at 24,000 characters...

[sword chucks]

lol

quality over quantity...

[tHeLiNe000]

Lets keep this short. I do believe warming up is important but you just need to know how. In spite of popular belief that pre-workout stretching is benificial there is actually very little evidence to support it. To my knowledge and belief it actually causes decrease in performance and muscle fatigue. The best time to use stretching is actually after your training when your muscles are warm and performance is not an issue. The best way to warm up is by doing a light weight range of motion exercise that is specific to movemnets you will be performing in your sport of workout.

[TheMind]

Picture this:

You wake up the dreadful sound of your alarm clock, “Ugh, is it 7:00AM already?” Groggy, you wipe the sleep from your eyes and climb from bed. Your feet feel like lead slabs as they hit the floor below you. Without missing a step you walk over to your bedside power rack and squat 400lbs for 8 reps. It’s now 7:02AM, time to start the day.

Sound like your morning? Doubtful. You may be a monster in the gym, but few men could perform such a feat directly out of bed. I love stating the obvious. But whilst this may seem common sense that you wouldn’t perform your best straight from a period of rest, it is a fact far too often overlooked in the gym.

It happens every day: Joe Schmoe gets off of work, drives to the gym, walks from the his car to the locker room, puts on a pair of shorts and thinks he’s ready to have an intense, muscle popping workout. He may as well have just climbed out of bed, that’s about how ready his body right now for his workout. By neglecting a proper warm-up, he’s already shot himself in the foot….and chances are you do it too. Houston, we have a problem.

Why warm up?

You want the obvious? Yeah, I can do obvious. You see the obvious answer all the time: Mr. So-n-so’s complaining about how agonizing this pain in his back is: he hurt it lifting a case of pop out of his wife’s trunk after getting groceries. What?!? A Case Of Pop!

Injury prevention is the number one reason to warm up. How’s that for obvious. But yet injury happens all the time: people hurting their backs via such evil means as boxes, groceries, and even, unfortunately, weights. The lower back is especially vulnerable due to its common use in extended and weak positions, sure, but why are there so many sad injuries that have occurred to most at some point or another?

“Lift with your legs, not your back”

Oh, you know you’ve heard that before, so called “words of wisdom” to prevent injury to your back. So why’s it so dangerous to use you back to lift a laundry basket, but later that day it may prove to be perfectly safe for you to straight-leg deadlift 300lbs for 8 reps? That’s the power of a warm up.

The main goal of your warm up is to get the juices flowing. That’s right, crack open that Tropicana and let loose, safely. Warming up increases your heart rate and gets blood flowing more freely to otherwise “cold” muscles that are weaker and more prone to injury. It’s called a “warm up” for a reason: you will consciously notice an increase in temperature and limberness. Your muscles will experience an increase in blood, and essentially oxygen, availability and will not only become lengthened and more relaxed, but also will increase their ability to contract to its fullest extent.

The automobile in the gym

You don’t have to be an automotive engineer to know that your car gets better gas mileage once the engine has been run for a while and heated up. It’s a widely known fact that after warming up your car’s engine becomes more efficient. It’ll run cleaner, spark hotter, and show greater horsepower and gas mileage. Your body is exactly the same; after a proper warm-up you’ll run more efficiently: effectively preventing injuries, maximizing your strength, and getting the most from your body’s fuel. The question is, are you Built Ford Tough?

You’ll see a warm-up in nearly every sport that man plays, and with good reason. Hockey players skate gently across the ice warming up their leg muscles; Baseball pitchers have their own area of the stadium where they can gradually progress from playing soft-toss catch to pitching 100mph fastballs before taking the mound during the game; Tennis players start by volleying and gradually working their way up to full speed; Boxers will hit punching bags and jump rope just moments before entering the ring; Basketball players will shoot hoops and rebound before a game; Football players will…..well, what won’t football players do to get themselves warmed up and psyched; Hold ‘em players will, well, stare blankly into space with no emotion. Get the point yet?

“So you’re saying I should stare into space before my workouts?

No, but I think we’ve helped to demonstrate a very important factor of a warm-up which addresses one of the main reason people will state for not warming up. Your warm up will burn up some energy, that’s all there is to it. When asked why they don’t warm-up, most people will respond that they don’t want to waste their energy: They’re “saving it” for their full strength lift. Here’s some news: if you’re not warming up, you’re not performing your full strength lift. Spend a little energy to get warmed up, and it will release more energy within you than you’ve spent. Put in a penny, and get back a nickel. To all you non-Finance Majors out there, that’s a good investment.

You want the most from your workouts? That wasn’t actually a question, but a statement. So why risk injury and rob yourself of your full potential by skipping a proper warm-up? Bodybuilding is a Man-vs-Self scenario, there’s no room for excuses, so don’t make them. If you are even mildly serious about the time you spend in the gym, you will be sure to always warm-up properly. If you can’t prepare yourself for a real workout by warming-up first, you may as well go home with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s: At least you won’t hurt yourself lifting your spoon, as you may have done in the gym without warming-up.

So how do I warm up then?

However suits you best. Experiment: try a variety of different stretches and exercises and find what gets your engine ticking. There are so many different ways to prepare for your workout that it’s impossible to list a “perfect” way to warm up for your workout. Instead, however, we can examine the most common “tried and true” ways to get your juices flowing. A proper warm up will always do two things: get your blood moving, and stretch your muscles.

”Said the Heart to the Blood. ‘Ye shall move! I command thee!’”

Back to the obvious: It’s a warm-up because your body temperature will actually rise when your warm-up properly. More obviousness? Sure! This rise in temperature is due to the increased blood flow to the muscles of your body. When you use a muscle, it requires oxygen and requests that the heart provide the necessary blood to accommodate this increased oxygen requirement. So if you want to get the blood flowing, you’ve got to use a muscle first. I know, it’s like rocket surgery or something.

Let’s face it, if your quads are not your biggest muscles then you need to reconsider the way you’re sculpting your body there, Michelangelo. I cannot think of a more effective way of warming up the entire body than running, and would challenge someone to give me a comparable warm-up exercise. Running requires the heavy use of your quads and other leg muscles which will quickly promote increased blood flow throughout the body. Running also uses (to a much smaller extent) a LOT of other muscles in the body: Shoulders and arms, abdominals/obliques/back; nearly all muscles in the body are stimulated to some degree by running, thus it quickly stimulates the blood flow we’re looking to achieve.

There are other alternatives, of course. Everything from walking up an incline, using a stair stepper, riding a bike, etc. It is a personal choice; find what suits you best.

So how long do you need to warm-up? Again, personal comfort is the dominating factor here. You should be able to tell when you are properly warmed-up. You’ll normally be sweating to a more or lesser extent, feel an increased body temperature, and most importantly feel loose and energized. I normally run for about 10 minutes on an indoor track before proceeding with my warm-up and workout.

“Be Strong. Be Flexible. Be Immortal.”
http://www.jumpforsts.com/images/splits1.gif
^Image used without permission or consent from http://www.jumpforsts.com^

We’ve all heard about the ‘stereotypical’ bodybuilder. Or even worse, perhaps even recited those dreadful words ourselves:

“Oh, bodybuilders are just these huge guys that don’t do anything but lift weights all day. They wear fanny packs and spandex, and really enjoy grunting and getting sweaty with other guy’s crotches in their face on the bench-press. They’re so big and bulky they can’t even wipe their own butts.”

Ouch. And what hurts most is that you know you’ve heard those very words before. And hey, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a fanny pack and spandex! If that’s your thing then go for it. But there’s one thing in there we must all be able to prove wrong: a Real bodybuilder has the flexibility to wipe his or her own backside without difficulty. In fact, it is nearly always true that bodybuilders do (as they should) have more flexibility than the average person. This excludes gymnast and dedicated yoga enthusiasts, of course ;)

However, building muscles will not make you more flexible. But lucky for us, being more flexible may help us build muscle :) Increasing your flexibility will benefit your workouts in several ways. With flexibility comes more tolerance to a broader range of motion that may be effectively utilized in your workouts to more precisely target your desired muscle, as well as allowing you to more easily keep perfect form with most exercises.

Stretching greatly helps to reduce the chance of excess strain or injury, and is a quintessential part of a proper warm up. It helps to relax and lengthen the muscles being stretched, allowing more essential blood flow and preparing the muscle for use.


CONTINUED...

[TheMind]

Over-Stretching

Something most people do not consider is the concept of over-stretching. When you stretch lightly, tendons and muscles are pulled and may relax to ‘give’ a little, improving the range of motion slightly. However, if you try to stretch too much, too far, or too hard you will actually cause small rips and tears in the muscles and tendons that you are stretching. These tears are rarely permanent, however they will leave the muscle or tendon to be a little weaker than it would have been without the stretching. Our goal here is not to hurt ourselves, but to put our body into a system where it must gradually adapt to the stresses of stretching by increasing our range of motion. It is not uncommon for people to immediately try to stretch farther than they should be trying, and hurt themselves. Please keep in mind that the pyramids were not built in a day, patience and work over time will provide your greatest success.

In other words: Don’t push your stretches to the point of pain, ever. There’s a huge difference between stretching to the point of pain(over-stretching) and stretching to gentle limits of your current range of motion. Tension is good, pain is bad. Don’t overdo it.

How do I stretch?

This could be debated to death if someone truly cared that much about it. Many swear by Static stretches, others by Dynamic stretches, and every once and a while someone even encourages Ballistic stretches. What’s best? I believe a combination of Static and Dynamic stretches to be the most beneficial and safest. Ballistic stretches, on the other hand, should be avoided like the plague.

Ballistic Stretching

As the name implies ballistic stretches are those that involve actively forcing a muscle past its natural limits by means of ‘bouncing’ and other forms of momentum. This is most commonly seen in someone who is either sitting on the floor or standing up attempting to touch their toes/floor and literally bounce in and out of the limits of their range of motion, using momentum to force further than they could ever hope to hold statically. This can be very dangerous and should, in my humble opinion at least, never be done under any circumstances. Some might argue otherwise, but I am not one of them.

Static Stretches

Static stretches are stretches that can be held, hence the term static. Examples of these exercises are touching of toes, holding a split in your furthest limits of motion, reaching for the sky, etc. These styles of stretches should be included in everyone’s warm ups and are both safe and effective.

Dynamic Stretches

Dynamic stretches are just that: stretches in motion. These are not, however, the same as Ballistic stretches. These are always controlled movements that never cross the pain threshold. Great examples of these stretches are trunk rotations, kicks, rolling of neck/shoulders/ankles, etc.

So you’re ready to start? You’re still warm from your run, right? I personally recommend that to get the best of your stretching you should always have blood flowing and be feeling warm before starting your stretches. The reason is for nearly the same as why you should always warm up before your workout: More blood is healthy, allows for a greater range of motion, and a smaller chance of injury. Even with stretching. Find a combination of Static and Dynamic stretches that suits you, and try and stretch your entire body. I personally like to perform most dynamic stretches than Static, but I still always perform static toe-touches and my furthest attempts at the splits.

The Author’s Stretching

I personally do not have a direct “system” for stretching. I go by how I feel, and advise that everyone should do the same. If I’m already feeling real loose before I begin my warm-up stretches, I may only do a few stretches and skip ahead. Likewise, if I’m particularly stiff on a day, I will dedicate more time to becoming more limber before continuing with my workout. I don’t count seconds, I don’t count “reps”, I go purely by feel. You can tell when you feel loose and when you feel as though you should stick with a particular stretch for another 30 seconds, just trust your body. I prefer and recommend stretching every day, even non-workout days. On non-workout days, I still feel it’s important and beneficial to still warm up before stretching, however I may do it in a different way such as by dancing, jumping on a trampoline, or shooting hoops in the driveway for a while. After being warm, I commonly use the following stretches:

Trunk Rotations, Shoulder/Neck Rolls, Behind-the-Head Tricep Stretch, Toe-Touches with a wide stance: Right/Middle/Left, Back Arch, Forward and Side Kicks, Ankle Rolls, Splits in deepest range.

I usually spend about 5-10 minutes stretching for warm up on workout days, and 15-20 minutes stretching on non-workout days to further increase my flexibility.

The Cool Down: Reverse Warm-Up?

We’ve established that it’s not particularly easy (or healthy, for that matter) to go from a relative state of rest to a stressful, hardcore workout. It is more prone to injury and won’t perform at its maximum potential without gradually working into the work. With that in mind, consider the possibility that your body may also need to ease it’s way out of work, or rather, into an efficient state of rest.

During a taxing workout, your muscles will accumulate minute amounts of Lactic Acid, Carbon Dioxide, Calcium, and other counter-productive agents. By properly cooling down, you allow the heightened blood flow to continue flushing these elements out of your system, while gradually reaching a state of homeostasis (equilibrium or balance) where it can quickly begin healing and repairing the tissue damage. A proper cool down is like a much less strenuous warm-up.

A good cool down usually consists of nothing more complicated than several minutes of walking or riding a stationary bike at a relatively slow pace. Whilst doing the activity your breathing should be able to return to a relaxed pattern and your heart rate should slow. Normally during the cool down you should be going so gently that before you’re done you should no longer be sweating. A good time to reach is 6-10 minutes of light cool down, followed by another round of stretching similar to what you did during your warm up. This should help reduce instances of DOMS and also to help expedite the recovery process.


What else can help me make the best of my workouts?

Let’s face it, recovery is as big a part of the bodybuilding game as the actual workout is. The problem is that many novices fail to acknowledge this and put forth the effort Outside the gym that they do Inside. If you want to make the most of the recovery portion of your lifting ventures, you need the right supplementation to help you on your way.

Whey Protein
Tried and true, Whey Protein is an essential part of any serious lifter’s schedule. This fast acting protein quickly becomes available for use in repairs and growth to muscle tissue. Muscle is protein, if you want to build muscle you’ll need the building blocks of those proteins. Whey will help, especially when taken with a high GI, simple carb drink that will spike insulin levels, driving the protein into your muscles where it can more quickly be utilized to rebuild.

L-Glutamine
Glutamine is naturally found throughout the body and is used by the immune system for fuel. After workout out, Glutamine levels are severely lower than normal, and as a result the body may break down muscle tissue to replenish Glutamine levels. Since your muscles are (hopefully) already torn, you run the risk of having these muscles used to replenish your natural Glutamine levels. By supplementing post-workout with L-Glutamine, you can help reduce the risk of muscle catabolism.

ZMA
Taken before bed, ZMA has been shown to naturally increase anabolic hormone levels, and improve the quality of sleep. Both of these things are very beneficial to aid in your recovery, and are of great benefit to any bodybuilder. The only drawback is that the Calcium in milk and most proteins can dampen the effect of ZMA, so it should not be taken with anything containing Calcium.


Conclusion

If you want to get the most out of your workout, you have to realize that it is not only the time under a bar or inside a power rack that matters. Both preparing for a workout, and preparing for your recuperation post-workout are crucial steps that can lead to greater gains, better health, and less chance of injury/soreness. So often neglected, a proper stretching regimen, and both warm-up and cool-down routines can be the key to unlocking your full potential. Don’t short-change yourself, start making the most of your workouts today!

[Semtex]

Do you guys have jobs,lol.

If I had a job I wouldnt have to do this. Im living off supplement samples right now :X.

[ravadongon]

Do you guys have jobs,lol.

still at school, and it's school holidays...

[sword chucks]

TheMind has a cool writing style :D

[XtremeBody510]

No cramping

[TheMind]

Do you guys have jobs, lol.

I work 58 hours a week at a plastic piping shop, and another 4-12 hours a week at a local convenience store....In fact, I had to wrap up my response/article earlier and faster than I wanted to because it was already past my 3PM bed time.

At the same time, however, I am very poor, lol. I bought a car this summer, and will just barely be able to pay that off, and get some of my college debts(I'm a Sophmore) whittled down. I'm working my way through school, and nearly all my paychecks go toward it right now.

I too have no money for supplements, lol, which is why I am so excited about TOTW, I think it's a great way to put a little whey in your pocket...Literally ;) As well as learn more about interesting topics, which is a great plus :)

Makes for a busy summer "vacation" though, lol.

[Semtex]

I work 58 hours a week at a plastic piping shop, and another 4-12 hours a week at a local convenience store....In fact, I had to wrap up my response/article earlier and faster than I wanted to because it was already past my 3PM bed time.

At the same time, however, I am very poor, lol. I bought a car this summer, and will just barely be able to pay that off, and get some of my college debts(I'm a Sophmore) whittled down. I'm working my way through school, and nearly all my paychecks go toward it right now.

I too have no money for supplements, lol, which is why I am so excited about TOTW, I think it's a great way to put a little whey in your pocket...Literally ;) As well as learn more about interesting topics, which is a great plus :)

Makes for a busy summer "vacation" though, lol.

I am in a very similar situation to you. But I cant even get a job right now since I am underage. I work as much as I can doing odd jobs but its hard. I just found this section and it looks like it will help alot. And even if I dont place, the information I learned will still benefit me in the long run :).

[Wazzup973]

How Important is Warming Up?

Introduction – When doing any activity whether it is going for a light walk or maxing out in the gym warming up, stretching, cooling down, and even some supplements can improve your performance, help your gains, and most importantly help prevent against injuries. While doing these things correctly can help you out warming up, cooling down, and stretching can also have negative effects on your gains if done incorrectly. In this article you will learn what works, and what will make you susceptible to injuries, also you will gain knowledge of how to do these exercises properly and really feel confident about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

How Important is Warming up Before Exercise? – Warming up is extremely important and easy there is no reason why you should not warm up and the benefits received from it may greatly improve your performance and recovery. More importantly it allows you to train at your maximum level with a much lower chance of injury. Not warming up before you work out is like standing in the middle of the highway you are basically begging to get hurt. Here are the benefits to warming up

1. Improved Range of Motion – improving your range of motion will allow to move further without injuring yourself.

2. Hormonal Changes – Your body increases production of various hormones that are responsible for adjusting energy production. Warming up will allow more carbohydrates and fatty acids available for energy production.

3. Increase in Body Temperature – Improving your muscles elasticity, which decreases your chances of straining or pulling a muscle.

4. Blood Vessels Dilate – This reduces the resistance to blood flow and lowers the stress on the heart.

5. Increase Muscle Temperature – A warm muscle is a happy muscle it contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly. So both strength and performance can be enhanced, and the possibility of overstretching a muscle and causing injury is far less.

6. Increase Blood Temperature – This makes more oxygen available to working muscles enhancing endurance and performance.

These are just some reasons why you should add a warm up to your workout. Now there are some steps to warming up.

First you should do a light aerobic activity for about 10-15 minutes just enough to break a light sweat.

Next you should do some stretching. Stretch the whole body because if you are working out you are using compound movements that use most if not all the body some working and some stabilizing.

Lastly you should begin doing the excercise in your first set with a lighter weight. Now there is no perfect way to do this, as all bodies are different so you will need to find what works best for you. It also depends on how many sets and how heavy and hard you are training. Here is a good starting point that you can improve upon. NOTE: This is for bench press for 3 sets and 4-6 reps (high intensity).

First set – 50% of your 1 rep max for 12 reps
Second set – 50% of your 1 rep max for 10 reps
Third set – 65% of your 1 rep max for 6 reps
Fourth set – 80% of your 1 rep max for 3 reps
Fifth set – 90% of your 1 rep max for 1 rep (last set)

Your work set should be 5% - 10% more then your 1 rep max after this warm up.

Do not warm up to much as it will decrease performance. If you are doing lighter weight with higher reps do less warm up sets and if your are doing heavier weight with less reps do more warm up sets.

Does stretching help prevent injury and soreness? – One of the greatest benefits of stretching is that you’re able to increase the length of both your muscles and tendons. This leads to an increased range of movement, which means your limbs and joints can move further before an injury occurs.

Here is an example. If the muscles in your neck are tight and stiff this limits your ability to look behind or turn your head around. If for some reason your head is turned backward, past its normal range of movement, in a football scrum or tackle for example, this could result in a muscle tear or strain. You can help prevent this from happening by increasing the flexibility, and the range of movement, of the muscles and tendons in your neck.

And what about your hamstrings they are put under a huge strain when doing any sort of sport that involves running and especially for sports which require kicking. Short, tight hamstring muscles can spell disaster for many sports people. By ensuring these muscles are loose and flexible, you’ll cut your chance of a hamstring injury dramatically. So yes stretching can help prevent injury.

Soreness on the other hand is a different story. Soreness is the result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers the amount of tearing and soreness depends on the activity and intensity. It is not the result of having a short tight muscle so while stretching helps prevent injury it does not help prevent soreness.

Ballistic stretching - Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. This is stretching, or "warming up", by bouncing into (or out of) a stretched position, using the stretched muscles as a spring, which pulls you out of the stretched position. (e.g. bouncing down repeatedly to touch your toes.) This type of stretching is not considered useful and can lead to injury. It does not allow your muscles to adjust to, and relax in, the stretched position. It may instead cause them to tighten up by repeatedly activating the stretch reflex

Dynamic stretching – dynamic stretching involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both. Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists.
Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout (such as a dance or martial-arts class).

Dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets of 8-12 repetitions:
Perform your exercises (leg raises, arm swings) in sets of eight to twelve repetitions. If after a few sets you feel tired -- stop. Tired muscles are less elastic, which causes a decrease in the amplitude of your movements. Do only the number of repetitions that you can do without decreasing your range of motion. More repetitions will only set the nervous regulation of the muscles' length at the level of these less than best repetitions and may cause you to lose some of your flexibility. What you repeat more times or with a greater effort will leave a deeper trace in your [kinesthetic] memory! After reaching the maximal range of motion in a joint in any direction of movement, you should not do many more repetitions of this movement in a given workout. Even if you can maintain a maximal range of motion over many repetitions, you will set an unnecessarily solid memory of the range of these movements. You will then have to overcome these memories in order to make further progress.

Active Stretching - Active stretching is also referred to as static-active stretching. An active stretch is one where you assume a position and then hold it there with no assistance other than using the strength of your agonist muscles. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there without anything (other than your leg muscles themselves) to keep the leg in that extended position. The tension of the agonists in an active stretch helps to relax the muscles being stretched (the antagonists) by reciprocal inhibition

Active stretching increases active flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. Active stretches are usually quite difficult to hold and maintain for more than 10 seconds and rarely need to be held any longer than 15 seconds.
Many of the movements (or stretches) found in various forms of yoga are active stretches.

Passive Stretching - Passive stretching is also referred to as relaxed stretching, and as static-passive stretching. A passive stretch is one where you assume a position and hold it with some other part of your body, or with the assistance of a partner or some other apparatus. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there with your hand. The split is an example of a passive stretch (in this case the floor is the "apparatus" that you use to maintain your extended position).
Slow, relaxed stretching is useful in relieving spasms in muscles that are healing after an injury. Obviously, you should check with your doctor first to see if it is okay to attempt to stretch the injured muscles.
Relaxed stretching is also very good for "cooling down" after a workout and helps reduce post-workout muscle fatigue.
Static Stretching - Many people use the term passive stretching and static stretching interchangeably. However, there are a number of people who make a distinction between the two.

Static stretching involves holding a position. That is, you stretch to the farthest point and hold the stretch

Passive stretching is a technique in which you are relaxed and make no contribution to the range of motion. Instead, an outside agent creates an external force, either manually or mechanically.

[Twin]

Hot
or
Not?

How important is warming up? This is a very controversal topic in the world of training.The truth is a warm up session can flaunt you or haunt you. Warming up is not only benefitcial to your proneness to injury, it can also affect other aspects of your training. So the question is, Are you Hot or Not?
What can the warm up do for me?
Warming up will increase your chances of staying injury free. Cold muscles are more prone to tear or pull then warm muscles. When you warm up your body is pumping more blood to the muscles your going to use. Not only will this make your muscles more mobile, but it will rid you muscles of the waste and bring more oxygen and nutrients to you body. Muscles are also faster and can contract with more force when warm, and a warm body can also increase nerve impulse transmission. Another benefit of warming up is the body releases synovial fluid during light activity.This fluid lubricates the joints which gives you more range of mobility and less chance for injury. Warming up will also allow your heart to get ready for excercise.

So should I only warm the muscles I'm going to use?
This will depend on your training. A bodybuilder usually has a training regimin of working certain muscles certain days. If its upper body day warming up the legs in not nessecary. But this can differ for a powerlifter or sprinter. The excercises for these sports require more muscles at once and one would benefit from warming the whole body. A light jog on a treadmill for 2-5 minutes is a great way to warm the whole body.Warming up will give you time to get in touch with your body and focus on what your up to doso it benefits physically and mentally.

Should I add strecthing into my warm up session?
Streching is not warming up because it doesnt increse body tempature but it is just as important as warming up. Streching brings more blood and awareness to the muscles, but it also focuses more on ligaments and tendons. Ligaments and tendons dont receive as much blood as muscles during a warm up so this is why it is crucial to also include stretching into your session.

Warming up
Okay, so you know you should warm up but do you know what your doing? If you dont warm up enough your in more danger for obvious reasons, but if you warm up too much it could effect your performance therefore effecting your results. The most apparent way to warm up is doing the same excercise with lighter weight or less intensity. Reps for a warm up set should be between 5 to 12. This still applies even if your doing low reps. The percentage of the weight you warm up with can be from 25% to 50%. This is enough weight to get your blood flowing and your body warm but not enough to affect your performance. So if you can squat 400 for one rep, an ideal warm up would be a set of 8 at 135. You dont have to use weight for every warm up. You can do pushups or bodyweight squats. For runners a good warm up is a light jog for 2-5 minutes followed by a stretching session. There are many other ways to warm up such as using dumbells. you can come up with you own warm up methods or easily find one on an internet search engine

Stretching
The two types of stretching we want to use are static and dynamic.

Static stretching* This is the standard stretch and hold method. hold for between 8 and 20 seconds

dynamic stretching* This is using momentum for stretch.this should feel natural. dont force the stretch. this type of stretching should always follow static stretching for dynamic stretching alone can damage muscles.

one thing we dont want to do during stretching is over stretch.it is possible to pull muscles during stretching, and part of the benefit of stretching is preventing injury so keep this in mind.heres what my pre workout stretch routine looks like

lying reach- reach for toes and hold (also stretches back)

v stretch- legs to a v and hold

butterfly-bring feet close to crotch as possible. try to push your knees down with your elbows.

glute stretch- one leg straight, witht he foot of the other leg cross your body and place as close to your hip as possible. now turn neck in direction of your crossed leg.

quad stretch- standing, bring your foot up to your butt and hold with hand. lean foward and feel your quad stretch

calf stretch- get on your hands with butt in the air and cross your legs .put pressure on stretching out your claves

tricep stretch- put your hand behind your head and with the other hand pul back on your elbow

bicep/chest- place hand on something such a a pole or wall and twist body the direction of your free hand

shoulders- hang from something such as a pullup bar and feel shoulder and back stretch

toe touches-toe your toes 10 times

arm circles-self explanitory

there are plenty of other stretches you can read about in the article section of "Bodybuilding.com"

Cool Down
A Cool Down is the process of slowing your heart rate and allowing your body to realize its done training. It usually consist of walking and stretching. The cool down is benefitcial but it is usually forgotten or warded off. the cool downs main function is preventing soreness. Older people are more aware of the cool down because they expierience more pain and soreness after a workout. Other benefits of the cool down are the aid in disposing waste such as lactic acid in your muscles and removing adrenaline from the blood. This allows the muscles to relax and start the recovery process. This being said, Yes it can add to your muscle recovery.
an example of a cool down would be walking for about a minute or two followed by static stretching.

Supplements
There are supplements that are made just for pre workout or post workout. Its hard to know what works because of all the products on the market. here are some that work.

No2- pre workout. One of the fastest growing supplements on the market. It pumps more blood to the muscle. you can see it working

Caffeine- pre-workout. mental and physical alertness

Taurine-pre-workout. You can find this in most energy drinks.thats because its a great source of energy

BCAA- pre-workout. Has been on the market for a long time. These help in the recovery and function of your muscles and are taken before, during and after a workout.

Glutamine- post-workout. Glutamine helps in recovery of the muscles and aids in protein delivery.

Conclusion
If you show up to the gym workout ten minutes late, shame on you, but dont skip your Warm Up. 10 minutes of lost time is not as bad as spending months in rehab.You'll thank yourself for warming up when your older. And when your older you might finally start cooling down. The question still stands though. Are you Hot or Not

[Semtex]

How Important is Warming Up?









Ballistic stretching - Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. This is stretching, or "warming up", by bouncing into (or out of) a stretched position, using the stretched muscles as a spring, which pulls you out of the stretched position. (e.g. bouncing down repeatedly to touch your toes.) This type of stretching is not considered useful and can lead to injury. It does not allow your muscles to adjust to, and relax in, the stretched position. It may instead cause them to tighten up by repeatedly activating the stretch reflex

Dynamic stretching – dynamic stretching involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both. Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists.
Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout (such as a dance or martial-arts class).

Dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets of 8-12 repetitions:
Perform your exercises (leg raises, arm swings) in sets of eight to twelve repetitions. If after a few sets you feel tired -- stop. Tired muscles are less elastic, which causes a decrease in the amplitude of your movements. Do only the number of repetitions that you can do without decreasing your range of motion. More repetitions will only set the nervous regulation of the muscles' length at the level of these less than best repetitions and may cause you to lose some of your flexibility. What you repeat more times or with a greater effort will leave a deeper trace in your [kinesthetic] memory! After reaching the maximal range of motion in a joint in any direction of movement, you should not do many more repetitions of this movement in a given workout. Even if you can maintain a maximal range of motion over many repetitions, you will set an unnecessarily solid memory of the range of these movements. You will then have to overcome these memories in order to make further progress.

Active Stretching - Active stretching is also referred to as static-active stretching. An active stretch is one where you assume a position and then hold it there with no assistance other than using the strength of your agonist muscles. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there without anything (other than your leg muscles themselves) to keep the leg in that extended position. The tension of the agonists in an active stretch helps to relax the muscles being stretched (the antagonists) by reciprocal inhibition

Active stretching increases active flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. Active stretches are usually quite difficult to hold and maintain for more than 10 seconds and rarely need to be held any longer than 15 seconds.
Many of the movements (or stretches) found in various forms of yoga are active stretches.

Passive Stretching - Passive stretching is also referred to as relaxed stretching, and as static-passive stretching. A passive stretch is one where you assume a position and hold it with some other part of your body, or with the assistance of a partner or some other apparatus. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there with your hand. The split is an example of a passive stretch (in this case the floor is the "apparatus" that you use to maintain your extended position).
Slow, relaxed stretching is useful in relieving spasms in muscles that are healing after an injury. Obviously, you should check with your doctor first to see if it is okay to attempt to stretch the injured muscles.
Relaxed stretching is also very good for "cooling down" after a workout and helps reduce post-workout muscle fatigue.
Static Stretching - Many people use the term passive stretching and static stretching interchangeably. However, there are a number of people who make a distinction between the two.

Static stretching involves holding a position. That is, you stretch to the farthest point and hold the stretch

Passive stretching is a technique in which you are relaxed and make no contribution to the range of motion. Instead, an outside agent creates an external force, either manually or mechanically.

Ballistic Stretching
Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. This is stretching, or "warming up", by bouncing into (or out of) a stretched position, using the stretched muscles as a spring which pulls you out of the stretched position. (e.g. bouncing down repeatedly to touch your toes.) This type of stretching is not considered useful and can lead to injury. It does not allow your muscles to adjust to, and relax in, the stretched position. It may instead cause them to tighten up by repeatedly activating the stretch reflex.
Dynamic Stretching
Dynamic stretching, according to Kurz, "involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both." Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists.

Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout (such as a dance or martial-arts class). According to Kurz, dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets of 8-12 repetitions:

Perform your exercises (leg raises, arm swings) in sets of eight to twelve repetitions. If after a few sets you feel tired -- stop. Tired muscles are less elastic, which causes a decrease in the amplitude of your movements. Do only the number of repetitions that you can do without decreasing your range of motion. More repetitions will only set the nervous regulation of the muscles' length at the level of these less than best repetitions and may cause you to lose some of your flexibility. What you repeat more times or with a greater effort will leave a deeper trace in your [kinesthetic] memory! After reaching the maximal range of motion in a joint in any direction of movement, you should not do many more repetitions of this movement in a given workout. Even if you can maintain a maximal range of motion over many repetitions, you will set an unnecessarily solid memory of the range of these movements. You will then have to overcome these memories in order to make further progress.

Active Stretching
Active stretching is also referred to as static-active stretching. An active stretch is one where you assume a position and then hold it there with no assistance other than using the strength of your agonist muscles. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there without anything (other than your leg muscles themselves) to keep the leg in that extended position. The tension of the agonists in an active stretch helps to relax the muscles being stretched (the antagonists) by reciprocal inhibition.
Active stretching increases active flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. Active stretches are usually quite difficult to hold and maintain for more than 10 seconds and rarely need to be held any longer than 15 seconds.

Many of the movements (or stretches) found in various forms of yoga are active stretches.

Passive Stretching
Passive stretching is also referred to as relaxed stretching, and as static-passive stretching. A passive stretch is one where you assume a position and hold it with some other part of your body, or with the assistance of a partner or some other apparatus. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there with your hand. The splits is an example of a passive stretch (in this case the floor is the "apparatus" that you use to maintain your extended position).
Slow, relaxed stretching is useful in relieving spasms in muscles that are healing after an injury. Obviously, you should check with your doctor first to see if it is okay to attempt to stretch the injured muscles.


Sorry I dont mean to be a downer but...this is called plagiarizing! This was the website that I got my info from too and you copy it WORD FOR WORD. I mean come on, some of us spent countless hours and hours writing these, like bigcalves and rava. I even handwrote ALOT of my article, and I am willing to scan them to prove I wrote mine. But when you copy and paste whole articles, it just sickens me.
http://www.elenpilates.com/Science%20of%20Stretching.htm

[Semtex]

How Important is Warming Up?


Here is an example. If the muscles in your neck are tight and stiff this limits your ability to look behind or turn your head around. If for some reason your head is turned backward, past its normal range of movement, in a football scrum or tackle for example, this could result in a muscle tear or strain. You can help prevent this from happening by increasing the flexibility, and the range of movement, of the muscles and tendons in your neck.

And what about your hamstrings they are put under a huge strain when doing any sort of sport that involves running and especially for sports which require kicking. Short, tight hamstring muscles can spell disaster for many sports people. By ensuring these muscles are loose and flexible, you’ll cut your chance of a hamstring injury dramatically. So yes stretching can help prevent injury.

Soreness on the other hand is a different story. Soreness is the result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers the amount of tearing and soreness depends on the activity and intensity. It is not the result of having a short tight muscle so while stretching helps prevent injury it does not help prevent soreness.

Ballistic stretching - Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. This is stretching, or "warming up", by bouncing into (or out of) a stretched position, using the stretched muscles as a spring, which pulls you out of the stretched position. (e.g. bouncing down repeatedly to touch your toes.) This type of stretching is not considered useful and can lead to injury. It does not allow your muscles to adjust to, and relax in, the stretched position. It may instead cause them to tighten up by repeatedly activating the stretch reflex

Dynamic stretching – dynamic stretching involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both. Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists.
Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout (such as a dance or martial-arts class).

Dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets of 8-12 repetitions:
Perform your exercises (leg raises, arm swings) in sets of eight to twelve repetitions. If after a few sets you feel tired -- stop. Tired muscles are less elastic, which causes a decrease in the amplitude of your movements. Do only the number of repetitions that you can do without decreasing your range of motion. More repetitions will only set the nervous regulation of the muscles' length at the level of these less than best repetitions and may cause you to lose some of your flexibility. What you repeat more times or with a greater effort will leave a deeper trace in your [kinesthetic] memory! After reaching the maximal range of motion in a joint in any direction of movement, you should not do many more repetitions of this movement in a given workout. Even if you can maintain a maximal range of motion over many repetitions, you will set an unnecessarily solid memory of the range of these movements. You will then have to overcome these memories in order to make further progress.

Active Stretching - Active stretching is also referred to as static-active stretching. An active stretch is one where you assume a position and then hold it there with no assistance other than using the strength of your agonist muscles. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there without anything (other than your leg muscles themselves) to keep the leg in that extended position. The tension of the agonists in an active stretch helps to relax the muscles being stretched (the antagonists) by reciprocal inhibition

Active stretching increases active flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. Active stretches are usually quite difficult to hold and maintain for more than 10 seconds and rarely need to be held any longer than 15 seconds.
Many of the movements (or stretches) found in various forms of yoga are active stretches.

Passive Stretching - Passive stretching is also referred to as relaxed stretching, and as static-passive stretching. A passive stretch is one where you assume a position and hold it with some other part of your body, or with the assistance of a partner or some other apparatus. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there with your hand. The split is an example of a passive stretch (in this case the floor is the "apparatus" that you use to maintain your extended position).
Slow, relaxed stretching is useful in relieving spasms in muscles that are healing after an injury. Obviously, you should check with your doctor first to see if it is okay to attempt to stretch the injured muscles.
Relaxed stretching is also very good for "cooling down" after a workout and helps reduce post-workout muscle fatigue.
Static Stretching - Many people use the term passive stretching and static stretching interchangeably. However, there are a number of people who make a distinction between the two.

Static stretching involves holding a position. That is, you stretch to the farthest point and hold the stretch

Passive stretching is a technique in which you are relaxed and make no contribution to the range of motion. Instead, an outside agent creates an external force, either manually or mechanically.


If the muscles in your neck are tight and stiff this limits your ability to look behind or turn your head around. If for some reason your head is turned backwards, past its' normal range of movement, in a football scrum or tackle for example, this could result in a muscle tear or strain. You can help to prevent this from happening by increasing the flexibility, and the range of movement, of the muscles and tendons in your neck.

And what about the muscles in the back of your legs? The Hamstring muscles. These muscles are put under a huge strain when doing any sort of sport that involves running and especially for sports that require kicking. Short, tight hamstring muscles can spell disaster for many sports people. By ensuring these muscles are loose and flexible, you'll cut your chance of a hamstring injury dramatically.

How else can stretching help? While injuries can occur at any time, they are more likely to occur if the muscles are fatigued, tight and depleted of energy. Fatigued, tight muscles are also less capable of performing the skills required for your particular sport or activity. Stretching can help to prevent an injury by promoting recovery and decreasing soreness.

Stretching ensures that your muscles and tendons are in good working order. The more conditioned your muscles and tendons are, the better they can handle the rigors of sport and exercise, and the less likely that they'll become injured.

So as you can see, there's more to stretching than most people think. Stretching is a simple and effective activity that will help you to enhance your athletic performance, decrease your likelihood of sports injury and minimise muscle soreness. If you'd like to know more about stretching and how it can help you, order a copy of The Stretching Handbook today.

The Stretching Handbook has gained a reputation as one of the most user-friendly publications on sports injury prevention, improving athletic ability and general stretching on the market today. This back-pocket handbook has already been hailed as a "must have" for anybody in the health and fitness industry. The Stretching Handbook has helped thousand of people to improve their athletic ability, prevent sports injury, put a stop to annoying back pain and just get a whole lot more out of their chosen sport or pastime.

The type of information in this publication comes from hard-learnt practical experience, not from textbooks or long-winded academic references. Also included are over 100 photographs (not diagrams) of sports related stretches for every major muscle group in your body. Don't be left out in the cold! If your health & fitness is important to you, you can't afford not to have a copy of The Stretching Handbook. Order Now!

OR, YOU CAN JUST ASK RICH FOR SOME HELP...HE EVEN HAS STRETCHING ILLUSTRATIONS FOR YOU!!!

================================================== ==============================

Article by Brad Walker. Brad is a leading stretching andsports injury consultant with over 15 years experience inthe health and fitness industry. To contact Brad simply email him at admin@thestretchinghandbook.com. For more articles on the prevention & treatment of sports injury, subscribe to The Stretching & Sports Injury Newsletter at http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/.

================================================== ==============================


CITE your sources please. This
http://www.myhealthstop.net/html/fit_tips_i.html

[Wazzup973]

Continued

Isometric stretching - is a type of static stretching (meaning it does not use motion) which involves the resistance of muscle groups through isometric contractions (tensing) of the stretched muscles. The use of isometric stretching is one of the fastest ways to develop increased static-passive flexibility and is much more effective than either passive stretching or active stretching alone. Isometric stretches also help to develop strength in the tensed muscles and seems to decrease the amount of pain usually associated with stretching.
The most common ways to provide the needed resistance for an isometric stretch are to apply resistance manually to one's own limbs, to have a partner apply the resistance, or to use an apparatus such as a wall to provide resistance.
An example of manual resistance would be holding onto the ball of your foot to keep it from flexing while you are using the muscles of your calf to try and straighten your instep so that the toes are pointed.
An example of using a partner to provide resistance would be having a partner hold your leg up high (and keep it there) while you attempt to force your leg back down to the ground.
An example of using the wall to provide resistance would be the well known "push-the-wall" calf-stretch where you are actively attempting to move the wall.
Isometric stretching is not recommended for children and adolescents whose bones are still growing. These people are usually already flexible enough that the strong stretches produced by the isometric contraction have a much higher risk of damaging tendons and connective tissue. I strongly recommend preceding any isometric stretch of a muscle with dynamic strength training for the muscle to be stretched. A full session of isometric stretching makes a lot of demands on the muscles being stretched and should not be performed more than once per day for a given group of muscles
The proper way to perform an isometric stretch is as follows:
1. Assume the position of a passive stretch for the desired muscle.
2. Next, tense the stretched muscle for 7-15 seconds.
3. Finally, relax the muscle for at least 20 seconds.
Some people seem to recommend holding the isometric contraction for longer than 15 seconds, but research has shown that this is not necessary. So you might as well make your stretching routine less time consuming.

Could it make someone more prone to injury through over-training? – Yes, over stretching and/or warming up too much cause make the probability of getting an injury increase. If you stretch to much you will probably feel sore in that area right after if it is a serious injury or in a day or two if it’s minor. If you warm up to much you will be fatigued and may not be able to lift at your maximal effort which could mean dropping a bar or losing form.

What stretching routine do you follow?

As for me I usually do a combination of all of those stretching techniques except for ballistic and isometric. I usually do it after my 10 - 15 minutes of aerobic activity and then again at the end of my workout. At the end I prefer to do passive stretching. Doing this has be very kind to me as I have gained in flexibility and hardly ever get injured.

How important is cooling down?

Cooling Down is just as important as warming up and just like warming up it provides very positive effects. Here are some benefits.

helps your heart rate and breathing to return towards normal gradually;

helps avoid fainting or dizziness, which can result from blood pooling in the large muscles of the legs when vigorous activity is stopped suddenly;

helps prepare your muscles for the next exercise session, whether it's the next day or in a few days' time;

helps to remove waste products from your muscles, such as lactic acid, which can build up during vigorous activity.

Those are some pretty good benefits cooling down also helps prevent muscle soreness. To ensure that you cool down properly here is what you should do.

what to do for and effective cool-down


perform low intensity exercise for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes; and
follow this with a stretching routine.

Cool-down options

1. Continuing your chosen exercise while gradually slowing its intensity. Gradually slowing down the pace and exertion of your activity over several minutes can seem a natural progression, as well as fulfilling the need to include a cool-down period at the end of your exercise.

2. Slow jogging or brisk walking. Another option is to jog or walk briskly for a few minutes after your exercise, making sure that this activity is lower in intensity than the exercise you have just performed.

Stretching after your cool-down
The best time to stretch is after your cool-down, as at this time your muscles are still warm and most likely to respond favourably and there is a low risk of injury. Stretching helps to relax your muscles and restore them to their resting length, and improve flexibility (the range of movement about your joints).

As a guide, allow 10 minutes of post-exercise stretching for every one hour of exercise. Make these post-exercise stretches more thorough than your pre-exercise stretches. Ensure that you stretch all the major muscle groups that you have used during your exercise. Stretch each muscle group for 20 to 30 seconds, 2 to 3 times.

Does it affect muscle recovery

Yes! this is one of the greatest benefits you will receive by just adding a cool don to your workout. Cooling down will allow your body to start relaxing and to start the recovery process earlier. Also stretching while cooling down has been shown to be very effective in developing full hard muscles. So why wouldnt you cool down?

Soreness?

Yes! again cooling down is very important I cant stress that enough. By cooling down you are allowing your muscles to begin the recovery process immediately and more efficiently.

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

While there is no magic supplement that will allow you to gain 5 pounds of lean muscle and up your max's by 10 pounds every time you work out there are some great products today. I will tell you what I use as I am limited in money and what I recommend if you do have the money to spend.

What I use I use 3 products as that is all I can afford right now they are Whey Protein, Flax Seed Oil, and AST's Multi Pro 32x

Pre Workout - One Scoop of ON 100% Whey Protein in the delicious flavor of double rich chocolate in 6 ounces of water with 1 tbsp of flax seed oil which i mix in slowly so it doesnt just float on the top.

Post Workout - One Scoop of ON 100% Whey Protein same flavor (I am almost out and will be switching to ON's gold standard in the vanilla ice cream flavor which I have heard good things about) and 1 Tbsp of flax seed oil (love that stuff donno why though).

Throughout the day - AST Multi Pro 32x Its a good vitamin I never ever get sick and I have heard that Vitamin C might help with recovery so thats good.

What I recommend I have heard some great things about these products and as soon as I have the money im going to try them I did not put the products I use on this list, but I would recomend them to anyone I meet thats interested.. SciVation's Xtend looks like a good product, AST's GL3 L-Glutamine, Optimum Nutrions BCAA 1000 caps or 5000 powder, and Micronized Creatine now I dont know much about the difference in quality, but if I were going to buy some I would probably go with eith AST's or Higher Power (AST's because I love there products and Higher Powers cause its cheap and I cant really see the difference between one type of micronized creatine and another so).

Here are the links I hope they help

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ast/multi-pro.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sun/flax.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/xtend.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ast/gl3.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/bc.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/bcaa.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ast/microcreatine.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hp/creatine.html

And here is how I would take them (after loading phase for creatine)

wake up - multivitamin, and a protein shake with 1 scoop, 5 grams of glutamine, and 1 tbsp of flax.

an hour later - one serving of the BCAA powder or one serving of the BCAA capsules.

around lunch - I would have 1 tbsp of flax either by itself or mixed in what im eating.

pre workout - 5 grams glutamine, 5 grams creatine, scoop of protein powder all mixed together which would give you alot of energy and pump

post workout - same protein shake as pre with 1 tbsp flax and a serving of xtend.

1 hour to 1 hour and 1/2 - another multi and another serving of BCAA

bed time - scoop of protein, 5 grams of glutamine, 1 tbsp of flax.


Sources

http://www.myhealthstop.net/html/fit_tips_i.html#stretch (jesus your impatient)
http://exercise.about.com/cs/flexibility/a/stretching.htm?terms=stretching
http://walking.about.com/cs/stretching/a/blexstretch.htm
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/flexibility/a/aa040703a.htm?terms=stretching
http://www.faqs.org/contrib/stretching/st2.html
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/injuries/a/aa010600.htm
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/warm-up.htm
http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2339

[Semtex]

Continued

Isometric stretching - is a type of static stretching (meaning it does not use motion) which involves the resistance of muscle groups through isometric contractions (tensing) of the stretched muscles. The use of isometric stretching is one of the fastest ways to develop increased static-passive flexibility and is much more effective than either passive stretching or active stretching alone. Isometric stretches also help to develop strength in the tensed muscles and seems to decrease the amount of pain usually associated with stretching.
The most common ways to provide the needed resistance for an isometric stretch are to apply resistance manually to one's own limbs, to have a partner apply the resistance, or to use an apparatus such as a wall (or the floor) to provide resistance.
An example of manual resistance would be holding onto the ball of your foot to keep it from flexing while you are using the muscles of your calf to try and straighten your instep so that the toes are pointed.
An example of using a partner to provide resistance would be having a partner hold your leg up high (and keep it there) while you attempt to force your leg back down to the ground.
An example of using the wall to provide resistance would be the well known "push-the-wall" calf-stretch where you are actively attempting to move the wall (even though you knowyou can't).
Isometric stretching is not recommended for children and adolescents whose bones are still growing. These people are usually already flexible enough that the strong stretches produced by the isometric contraction have a much higher risk of damaging tendons and connective tissue. I strongly recommend preceding any isometric stretch of a muscle with dynamic strength training for the muscle to be stretched. A full session of isometric stretching makes a lot of demands on the muscles being stretched and should not be performed more than once per day for a given group of muscles (ideally, no more than once every 36 hours).
The proper way to perform an isometric stretch is as follows:
1. Assume the position of a passive stretch for the desired muscle.
2. Next, tense the stretched muscle for 7-15 seconds (resisting against some force that will not move, like the floor or a partner).
3. Finally, relax the muscle for at least 20 seconds.
Some people seem to recommend holding the isometric contraction for longer than 15 seconds, but research has shown that this is not necessary. So you might as well make your stretching routine less time consuming.





http://www.elenpilates.com/Science%20of%20Stretching.htm

[sword chucks]

Copying is not cool :( Think of your own articles

[TheMind]

I'm glad I'm not in charge of picking winners, there are some excellent responses in here....It will prove to be a close competition, no doubt :)



Mel_Stepp01:

Granted with such a short response and a lack of details you would probably not have been considered for placement(atleast not in the high quality of these other fine people's responses), but you should put a little more effort into your plagiarism. Granted, you did better than Wazzup, but you still did pretty bad:


A general warm-up period should consist of 5 to 10 minutes of aerobic activity (jogging, biking, etc.) to increase heart rate, blood flow, viscosity of fluids, and perspiration. The increase in muscle temperature allows a greater amount of flexibility which readies an athlete for the movement required by his or her sport (ie weight training).

.Generally, a warm-up should start off with a general exercise at a moderate intensity e.g. jogging or walking at a fast pace for approximately five to ten minutes. A general warm-up may also consist of riding a stationary bicycle, which will also increase the heart rate, blood flow, deep muscle temperature, respiration rate, and perspiration, and decrease viscosity of joint fluids. “The increase in muscle temperature allows a greater amount of flexibility, which readies an athlete for the movements required by his or her sport” (Baechle & Earle, 2000, p.322).


A specific warm-up incorporates movements similar to the movements of the athlete's sport. It involves 8 to 12 minutes of activity or sport-specific stretches, such as shoulder stretches for volleyball players. Additionally, a specific warm-up is sometimes based on the dynamic movements of a given sport or activity.

“A specific warm-up incorporates movements similar to the movements of the athlete’s sport” (Baechle & Earle, 2000, p.322). This type of warm-up should include approximately eight to twelve minutes of activity or sport specific stretches e.g. shoulder stretches for volleyball players. In addition, specific warm-ups can sometimes incorporate the dynamic movements of a particular sporthttp://www.getalive.com.au/exercise.htm

But hey, atleast you tried to change a few of the words, and pretended as though you, personally, had cited a resource (which, you did incorrectly anyway, the website you plagiarized did a much better job. You should have stolen their formatting as well)


Which brings us to Wazzup973. Good job, kiddo. Great article, I'm rooting for you to win. Or be banned from the forums, whichever comes first. Just don't get your hopes up when you see one of these other fine gentlemen taking "your" prize. Good luck in placing....You'll need it.

[LosersWhine]

Good job all of you I learned a great deal. Umm wazzup sorry bro but there are like 2 small parts in your article that arent pasted. BTW this is my first post yey. So sup people

[sword chucks]

Whats up LosersWhine

Btw guys stop bashing everyones articles lol

[TheMind]

Whats up LosersWhine

Btw guys stop bashing everyones articles lol

Plagiarism is bashworthy in my opinion

[sword chucks]

Plagiarism is bashworthy in my opinion

thats true :(

[TheMind]

thats true :(

And 8-bit Theater rules!

;)

[STUD]

You guys wrote some good articles. May the best man win.

[TheMind]

You guys wrote some good articles. May the best man win.
Clearly Wazzup973 will win, he (like, actually HE! Himself! Alone!) wrote a great article....Well, I didn't actually read it, but it was long and seemed informative, he must be a fountain of knowledge on the subject! Oh how jealous am I!


[/bash]

[muscleboy333]

Couldn't edit so I quoted it, made the changes and posted it again...

How Important Is Warming Up?

Many people are very misinformed about warming up and its importance before a workout. Some people don't warmup at all, others will spend half an hour wasting time and energy before their workout! Neither of these are the right way to do it, so read on and learn!

Popular belief is that simple stretching before your workout will make you more flexible, loose, and injury free. Leave this to the yoga instructors, because it's myth! Conventional stretching before your workout can actually make you more prone to injury, and your lifts will be weaker! You'll do far better if you stick to a warm-up like the following! You should start by getting the blood flowing through your body and getting your heartrate and temperature to rise a little. This can be accomplished by a few minutes of light jogging. This isn't really warming up any muscles directly (except legs a little), but it will prepare your entire body for exercise.

Next, you'll need to directly warm-up the muscle you're about to work. How many sets you'll need to do this depends on how much weight you're using in the exercise. If you are a beginner, and only deadlift 150 pounds, you could probably get by with just two warmup sets, 75 X 6-8 and then 100 X 4-6. However, if you've worked up to very heavy weights, say 500 pounds in the deadlift, you will need to pyramid up in your warm-ups more. Ex: 145 X 10, 245 X 6, 300 X 4, and then you could do 400 X 1, or even 450 X 1 so that the weight jump isn't such a shock. The reason I say this is because if you were to do your last warmup set with 300 pounds for a 500 pound work set, even though you've warmed up the muscles properly, it's quite a big jump and makes the work set seem heavier than it really is. Warming up properly will allow you to use as much weight as possible for your working sets, even up to 25% more than if you hadn't warmed up! How's that for a few minutes of easy work? You'll also be much less prone to injury, so no need to worry about a possible pulled muscle while you scream and grunt through your set.

Now that the muscles you're going to be working are directly warmed up, you can give the exercise everything you've got and stimulate growth safely. After you're done all sets of the exercise, you can do a very effective form of stretching, called extreme stretching for that muscle. This will not only stretch the fascia of the muscle, but it will greatly improve your recovery time and make you even less prone to injury. Fascia stretching, although might look easy on paper will be very painful and it takes strong willpower to make it through the 60 seconds. Once the minute is up, however, you'll feel great knowing you've gotten more out of your workout, and you can get home and grow!

You don't need to do all of your extreme stretches at once. For example, after I've warmed up and finished my heavy benching movements for chest, I'll do the chest stretch. (Lie down flat on a bench with two dumbbells, and drop them into a deep flye. Try to force your elbows down as far as you can for 60 seconds.)

After the stretch is over, I'll move on to the next muscle group.

For triceps, sit on a chair with a heavy dumbbell in one hand, in the bottom position of a overhead dumbbell extension. Use your head to push back on your elbow. Hold for 60 seconds, then repeat for the other arm.

For biceps, face away from a power rack with a high barbell in it, about neck height, and reach back gripping it with your hands over the bar. Now squat down as deep as you can go. Hold for 60 seconds.

For back, you can do one of two things. The first is to hang from a chinup bar with a wide grip and straps, and hang on as long as you can with a heavy dumbbell between your legs. The second is to pull on a doorknob with a rounded back, and really stretch your lats.

For shoulders, face away from a power rack with a barbell that's shoulder high, then grab it with your palms under the bar. Now walk out infront, still holding the bar, until it gets painful. Now roll your shoulders down and hold for 60 seconds.

For quads, basically do a sissy squat under a hip high barbell, while leaning back as far as you can. Believe me, this is excruciating, but it's also one of the most effective stretches. Be strong! Hold for 60 seconds.

Finally, for hamstrings put one leg up on a high barbell, and use try to force your leg straight the whole time. Switch to the other leg after 60 seconds and repeat.

These will be painful, but in the end they will be worth it. Remember, don't stop before your 60 seconds is up!

I think extreme stretching for the bodypart you just finished training is an alright cooldown, but after you're done your workout you should also bring your temperature and heartrate down safely with another very light walk or jog. No need for more stretching, extreme stretching has already taken care of everything, and will start speeding up your recovery. Also, thanks to the extreme stretching, soreness the next day isn't as much of a problem.

The above type of warmup is designed for a workout with weights. To warm up and cool down for a cardio workout, things would be a bit different. Before the run you should slowly increase your temperature and heart rate by jogging slowly, and increasing speed as needed until you're at the desired intensity for your cardio workout. After your run, you should do another light jog, only slowing down this time instead of speeding up. There's no need for any extreme stretching here.

[muscleboy333]

Continued...

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

Right now, the best recovery supplements are protein powder, glutamine, and of course creatine. Glutamine and protein powder are both made up of protein and protein precursors, and they will greatly help your recovery and growth. Creatine enhances cell volume, strength, recovery, and endurance. There are a few types of protein powders to choose from. Many people like whey protein, others prefer casein or egg protein powder. All of these are fine.

A few good brands of protein to choose from are:

Whey Protein:

-Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey:
This is a great product, it's reasonably priced, is of great quality and tastes awesome!

http://bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html

-Dymatize Elite Whey:
Another fine product. This is very inexpensive for a quality protein. The flavours are great too!

http://bodybuilding.com/store/dym/elite.html


Casein Protein:

-Optimum Nutrition 100% Casein:

Casein products are more expensive than whey, but they are digested slower so more beneficial for a pre-bed meal.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/cas.html


-ISS Miccelar Matrix:

This product includes whey and egg protein, but the dominant source of protein is casein.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/iss/mic.html

And here are some good brands of glutamine and creatine:

Glutamine:

-Prolab Glutamine:

Just pure, raw glutamine.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/pl/glutamine.html

-Higher Power Glutamine:

Another pure glutamine product.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hp/glutamine.html

Creatine:

-Higher Power Micronized Creatine:

Great price! Nothing else added, just pure creatine.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hp/creatine.html

-AST Micronized Creatine:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ast/microcreatine.html

Shy away from most of fancy new things, you'll be wasting your money. Other than glutamine, your whey/casein/egg protein and creatine, you don't need much else. For pre-workout, you'll want some simple and complex carbs, as well as a good amount of protein. Most supplements don't contain enough carbs and protein for your post or pre-workout meal, so you're better off eating real food. A good weight gainer can make a nice post or even pre-workout meal however. A few good weight gainers are Prolab N-Large II, Cysport CytoGainer, Ultimate Nutrition Muscle Juice, and Interactive Mammoth 2500 (in Canada).

You can find these here:

N-Large II:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/pl/large.html

CytoGainer:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cs/gainer.html

Muscle Juice:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/un/mj.html

Pre and post-workout meal requirements are quite similar, for post-workout you'll need about half and half carbs (simple and complex), and a hefty dose of protein. If you really want to use supplements for your post or pre workout meal, stick with a good weight gainer that could meet these requirements (so this means nothing loaded up on useless sugar). Here's a good sample post-workout meal, you can change it to meet your size and liking:

-1-2 cups of milk or water, mixed with 1-2 scoops of whey and 25-75 grams of dextrose
-1/2 cup of oatmeal with yogurt on top (you can eat this cooked or blend it with your shake)
-1 big steak, or other good meat
-2 potatoes, however you like them
-A few glasses of milk if you like

This may seem like alot, but you need to eat big to get big. You don't need to eat exactly those foods, but shoot for similar protein and carb amounts depending on your size. If you feel like skimping out on your post workout meal, don't, and remember, it's by far the most important meal of the day! After your workout you'll have about an hour long "window of opportunity" where your muscles will be starving for nutrients, and will soak in everything they can get! Take advantage of this and eat a massive post-workout meal!

Conclusion:
To wrap things up, warming up and extreme stretching is key to not only keeping yourself injury free and flexible, but also to faster recovery and greater strength! Don't waste your time doing too many warm-up sets, or dive straight into a heavy set of squats, instead do things right by following a plan like the one outlined above and enjoy the benefits!

[LosersWhine]

Wow good job guys Ill be participating the next weeks contest which is already up and im already writeing but ehh...Im not pickin favorite but there are some awsome articles in here. I did read the other weeks and this week by far has had the best answers that I have seen.

Good luck

[sword chucks]

And 8-bit Theater rules!

;)

yeah

did u hear about those peons? They would tell them "your a peon"

[TheMind]

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I don't think your editted response should be considered, Muscleboy333.

The deadline was yesterday, and even though it's only editted, that'd be like getting an extra day's extension to write....I know there's a lot more that I would have loved to wrote, but time permitting I had to rush things...I just don't think it should be allowed to have your second posting of your response to be considered for placement, it just doesn't seem fair to me, and I know that it would probably lead to future "But you let Muscleboy333 do it!" kind of problems with TOTW.


Ultimately that's up to Will, and like I said, I'm not trying to make you hate me or anything.....It just doesn't seem fair to me, or else I would have added more to mine as well, as I'm sure others would have to theirs. Deadlines are deadlines.

[muscleboy333]

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I don't think your editted response should be considered, Muscleboy333.

The deadline was yesterday, and even though it's only editted, that'd be like getting an extra day's extension to write....I know there's a lot more that I would have loved to wrote, but time permitting I had to rush things...I just don't think it should be allowed to have your second posting of your response to be considered for placement, it just doesn't seem fair to me, and I know that it would probably lead to future "But you let Muscleboy333 do it!" kind of problems with TOTW.


Ultimately that's up to Will, and like I said, I'm not trying to make you hate me or anything.....It just doesn't seem fair to me, or else I would have added more to mine as well, as I'm sure others would have to theirs. Deadlines are deadlines.
What are you talking about? I thought we had until Friday? My bad if deadline was yesterday...

[LosersWhine]

deadline was yesterday at 11:59 pm the results are posted at 5 pm mountain time friday

there ya go good post but like the mind said deadlines are deadlines

[TheMind]

What are you talking about? I thought we had until Friday? My bad if deadline was yesterday...


Week of 8th - 13th. The deadline was Midnight(EST I Assume) on the 13th.


From what I've seen, it's always over on a Wednesday, so that there is plenty of time to judge and reformat for the main page.

[sword chucks]

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I don't think your editted response should be considered, Muscleboy333.

The deadline was yesterday, and even though it's only editted, that'd be like getting an extra day's extension to write....I know there's a lot more that I would have loved to wrote, but time permitting I had to rush things...I just don't think it should be allowed to have your second posting of your response to be considered for placement, it just doesn't seem fair to me, and I know that it would probably lead to future "But you let Muscleboy333 do it!" kind of problems with TOTW.


Ultimately that's up to Will, and like I said, I'm not trying to make you hate me or anything.....It just doesn't seem fair to me, or else I would have added more to mine as well, as I'm sure others would have to theirs. Deadlines are deadlines.

this happens very often actually, people like doggiejoe post a day late or whatever, it's not a deadline set in stone and im sure if you posted a day late but it was before Will looked over the articles he wouldn't care.


besides, he's our buddy muscleboy333 how can you say "no" to muscleboy333?

[Semtex]

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I don't think your editted response should be considered, Muscleboy333.

The deadline was yesterday, and even though it's only editted, that'd be like getting an extra day's extension to write....I know there's a lot more that I would have loved to wrote, but time permitting I had to rush things...I just don't think it should be allowed to have your second posting of your response to be considered for placement, it just doesn't seem fair to me, and I know that it would probably lead to future "But you let Muscleboy333 do it!" kind of problems with TOTW.


Ultimately that's up to Will, and like I said, I'm not trying to make you hate me or anything.....It just doesn't seem fair to me, or else I would have added more to mine as well, as I'm sure others would have to theirs. Deadlines are deadlines.

Yea I also had stay up many extra hours working on mine, because I thought it was due wensday. I am not trying to bring up an excuse but if I had more time it would of been alot more detailed. Meh its basically over now, may the best man win. No use holding grudges.

[bigcalves]

Man, people that plagerize should be banned from Topic Of The Week. Its likely that they will register again and plagerize more.

I spend 2-4 hours developing and then writing my articles every Sunday night, and it feels bad that some loser can just copy some info, and if the webmasters dont catch it accidentally, can win instead of me or other hard working writers :D

[LosersWhine]

Yup, Im not trying to sound like im agreeing that you should plagerize. but putting myself in there mind set. They probably look up all this information spend hours just on that. Start typing then they read these excellent posts and realize that everything they just looked up has already been said so they need to be more detailed or add something so they just copy and paste since it is already detailed and everything.

Im not trying to defend plagerizers here as I think its totally wrong to steal another persons work that they pored hours into. People that should do it should be disqualified for that week and hopefully they learn. If it happens again they should be banned from participating in this weekly contest thing.

[TheMind]

besides, he's our buddy muscleboy333 how can you say "no" to muscleboy333?
I couldn't. I wouldn't. Is that even Possible?!

BUT....

He already had an article written, he just editted it....I think his original article should be his "entry", and his edit not be judged. Tha's all.


<3 Muscleboy333

[sword chucks]

I couldn't. I wouldn't. Is that even Possible?!

BUT....

He already had an article written, he just editted it....I think his original article should be his "entry", and his edit not be judged. Tha's all.


<3 Muscleboy333

depends if webmaster looked at it or not :)

lol

[Semtex]

Awesome thank you for the prizes. Only if I found this section out sooner, *sigh* so much wasted time arguing with trolls in the teen section.

[TheMind]

depends if webmaster looked at it or not :)

lol


According to the page, he didn't :( lol......


I think it's the right thing to do(not count it) but at the same time I think that sucks to put the time and effort into editting and then have it all for nothing :(

[Semtex]

According to the page, he didn't :( lol......


I think it's the right thing to do(not count it) but at the same time I think that sucks to put the time and effort into editting and then have it all for nothing :(

Well you can share your prize with him :P.

[rdjensen]

Proper warm up will affect your entire workout. I live in a cold climate and the warm up process for me starts with making sure I don’t get cold while traveling to the gym. If my body is cold then my muscles won’t preform. It’s like warming up your car before using it. If you step on the gas before your car is heated up then it will damage the engine. If your blood isn’t moving through your muscles when you lift heavy weight you may tear that muscle.

If you take pre-workout drinks like NO-Explode or Jacked 3D, your muscles have to have bloodflow. If your heart rate is resting the supplements won’t travel through your system efficiently. Even if your not using the pre-workout drinks your muscles still need sufficient blood flow before heavy lifting.

Those that don’t warm up will often complain that their supplements don’t do anything and they don’t feel the effect. This is because it is just sitting in their system. If you don’t start doing something it will eventually digest. And it will give you gas if not utilized. Same goes for protein shakes.

If you are lifting heavy I suggest jogging a half mile then doing about 15-25 reps of the muscle group that you will be lifting heavy with that day. If your have pre-workout supplement in your system you will start to feel them kick in during your reps.

If you skip the warm up process you will miss out on the “pump” sensation that you get in your muscles when you lift. Your skin gets tight around your muscles and it feels fantastic.

[gethuge1234]

Warm up = Happy muscles!!!!!!

[grantashley]

Warm up and warm down are as important as what you are warming up for. One thing doesnt work properly without the other.

[jp513]

I use my cardio as a warm up. I like the ellipticals the best cause your whole body is working. If it is LEGS day i keep it light 30 minutes on the teadmill walking at 3.5 mph

[tiger1999]

It is very important to warm up before training, but it is equally important to warm down after training.

[mimisoffice]

It is very important to warm up before training, but it is equally important to warm down after training.

Yes and it is so good to meditate after all the work!


It puts energy into your body!

[BBenti]

very important

[J-Beck]

Normally, everybody could see people stretch their muscle before workout. But you may notice that not everybody do that.

However, I'm just one person who do not see any important from stretching for a very long time until I injure. I try to find out the reason that why I feel pain at my shoulder joint, my tendons are tear, and many other injury. (many time.) and I have to off work out for months.

I think that it's happen because I never perform warm up set before work out. I skip the warm up set and life the weight that I should do. (Especially, on Bench Press day.) Now, I do warm up 1 set with 40 - 60% of the normal weight that I expect that I want to lift that day. I do tell everybody to see the necessary of warm up, too. If you never feel pain, you never know how it could be. You have to stop work out for a long time and this not worth.

Anyway, I think in my country do not have much people lift over-weight much. There are only a few people try to lift over-weight and I do not heard that those guy have seriously injure or not. However, maybe those guy injure but I do not heard.

In my opinion, stretching only the body part you want to workout is just fine and once you finish working. Stretching again for whole body part if you have time is great. I heard from trainer in my fitness claim that stretching after workout maybe reduce the recovery time of your muscle. If you can, try to attend the Yoga class, it's helpful.!

For the supplement that help recovery, I think Glutamine is the best. But if you want to increase your power, Any Carbo (i.e. Dextose) and Creatine is the Best supplement that you should try. It's worth for you money.

It's very important to warm up if you are going to be competing in an athletic event. I usually do a few stretches for the muscle group I'm going to be training in the gym and do about 15 reps for my first set as a warmup.

[grej]

it depends comp. on my mood..

[CapsL]

I'm bookmarking this thread :D

[yassinevitch]

-Lat stretch
Hang from a pullup bar with straps for a 60 seconds. Pretty simple and safe. Try varying up the grip for full development!
Another thing I like to do is grab onto a doorknob or the edge of a machine and extend to a full lat stretch and then twist my body. This really hits my lower lats as well.

-Biceps stretch
What I do to stretch biceps is get on an incline bench with my straps and turn my palms away from each other so that the biceps are sticking out directly at my side. What I mean is, with your palms facing behind you, turn your hands 270 degrees, not the short way. Then let your arms hang down.

-Chest stretch
I like to use dumbbells for this (well actually I don’t particularly like any stretch but you get the idea). I get on the flat bench and face my palms towards myself and then arch my back really hard and push my shoulders back as far as possible. After 40 seconds, I take 20 seconds to lower the weights with my biceps so it has an effect like a dumbbell flye.

-Shoulder stretch
This is a more traditional stretch. I put an elbow behind my head and push it back while holding onto the same limb with my other hand. Pretty simple, you have probably seen a lot of people doing this already.

-Tricep stretch
Put your elbow on a flat surface in front of you and put your hand in a bicep curl position. Push down on the forearm of this arm with the opposite hand. It is like you are contracting your biceps really hard actually.

My stretching routine

Something that is more useful for us bodybuilders to know is that stretching will increase the muscle size greatly by expanding connective tissue, giving it more room to grow. Arnold and many others believed in this technique and called it “fascia stretching”. My experiences with this have been great. I saw a huge difference in my muscle development after I added in these stretches- in fact, once I incorporated these, my weight gain began to skyrocket again after I had been stuck at the weight for 1 month! Coincidence? No such thing as a coincidence!

I use all of the stretches above but only those stretches. That can target every muscle effectively, there is no need to take time to stretch out the forearm extensors and flexors and other small muscles such as those.

After the last set for each muscle group in a given workout, I immediately go to my stretching station and perform a stretch for about 60 seconds. For the first 15-30 seconds I am easing into it and in the last 45 or so I am really feeling the pain but I push (not the best word choice mind you) through. Make sure you can look at a clock during these or you will cheat yourself!

Before training a muscle I feel that simply completing a few warm-up sets through a full range of motion is enough to adequately stretch the muscles. If you want to stretch before training make sure to warm up first. My coaches always said “you don’t stretch to warm up you warm up to stretch.” Remember, don’t stretch the muscle too much or you will not allow maximum training results!

My stretching routine has caused explosive growth all over my body. I am still more or less a scrawny punk compared to the bodybuilding greats, but I was amazed when I saw the results from just incorporating one minute of stretching into my workout!

Benefits to the Cool-Down

Like I said before, stretching and cooling-down go hand-in-hand. They allow the muscles to get back to a normal state after training.

Think of a sport practice. After a hard workout loaded with sprinting, hitting, and focusing, an athlete is usually jittery with a highly elevated heart rate. It is beneficial after this to take some time to “unwind”. It is the same for a bodybuilder after any workout.

How important the cool down is

I am going to be honest here. The cool down is NOT the most important part in any training program. However, myself and many others encourage it just because it is worth the one or two minutes that it takes to do a proper cool-down. A cool-down can simply be one light, high rep set for each muscle group to further prevent the muscles from being over-tightened.

Cooling down and recovery

As stated before, a proper cool-down can allow the muscles to lengthen and return to a normal state faster than they would if you had not cooled down. If you stretch properly, that will limit muscle soreness greatly. If you then take the time to cool the system down you can pretty much kiss soreness the day after a workout good-bye (unless you have not trained for the past month or more- but it will still help a great deal!)

As bodybuilders or athletes, we want to do all we can to maximize recovery and maximize the amount of growth we can get in during a short time frame, so we should take every action to maximize recovery!

Conclusion

I hope that after reading this article, you understand the many ways in which warming-up, cooling down and stretching are important. I also am confident that you learned a few tricks to build your own warm-up, cool down, and stretch routine, or if you already have some you can now add some new techniques to them. The methods explained in this article can be useful for people with any type of goal!

Overall, warming up does prevent injuries and maximize lifting performance. Warming up isn’t just a safety precaution though- it also has positive effects on a bodybuilder because after a warmup strength and focus should be peaked. Cooling down and stretching follow a workout and increase recovery greatly while also adding to overall health of the muscles.

Warming up, stretching and cooling down properly are often overlooked yet integral parts of any training program. They are very basic and traditional aspects of any athletic activity, but are often overlooked in the gym where they can be even more beneficial than in the field. These elements of training should become more commonly used in the future by those wishing to maximize performance and recovery! If you have time to exercise, you have time to warm up and cool-down/stretch!

Bonus

Recovery supplements

Before I go into actual supplements, I will take the old-fashioned route and say that NOTHING will aid in recovery like a calorie surplus and a lot of carbohydrates, especially around workouts. Basic food is what makes the difference, supplements just add tiny bits here and there for the most part.

Taking an EFA supplement will naturally boost testosterone levels. Taking Omega 3, 6, and 9’s come in pill form and will help recovery in many ways. Another thing I noticed is that ever since I began consuming 2-4 whole eggs per day, I have felt a lot stronger. Feels like more testosterone to me!

A simple creatine supplement is known to maximize ATP production so that the muscles readily become prepared for the next workout.

Citrulline Malate is called the “new kid on the block” as far as performance enhancers go. This product has effects ranging from limiting waste product build-up to increasing Nitric Oxide production. Both of these things help the body in the recovery cycle.

Pre workout

Pre workout energy and focus boosters have been getting great feedback recently. Sciviation, a great company with a lot of kind people behind it, has produced Neurostim. This product increases alertness and focus in a workout. You can imagine how much this will benefit and if you are having one of those days where you are dogging it in the gym you will wish you had bought neurostim! MRM’s Driven has similar effects while also packing some body composition-helping effects.

Taking a shake with amino acids and glucose is proven to greatly increase availability of both before a workout. This will really improve performance in any activity. The glucose provides a “carbed-up” feeling while the amino acids, which means things like glutamine and Taurine, will further aid energy and strength!

Post workout

There are two things to think of post workout. You should look to replenish muscle glycogen. This will increase the muscles’ energy for the next workout (not to mention post workout carbohydrates get sapped up into the muscles like water into a sponge). Also, think of reversing the catabolic processes that take place after a workout. NOW Dextrose does both things. Dextrose is the one carbohydrate that has the biggest effect on muscle glycogen stores and is the fastest absorbing.

What I recommend is to sip on a glucose and amino acid solution through your workout. Nothing too major, just 20-30 grams of glucose and 10 grams or so of amino acids. You can also put in any other supplements you use such as your creatine or citrulline malate and create a great recovery-aiding cocktail.

The main thing to think about post workout is not how many milligrams of Super Placebo RX you get in but getting in a good amount of carbs and protein so you feel re-fueled and simple supplementation can accomplish this just fine.

[yassinevitch]

-Lat stretch
Hang from a pullup bar with straps for a 60 seconds. Pretty simple and safe. Try varying up the grip for full development!
Another thing I like to do is grab onto a doorknob or the edge of a machine and extend to a full lat stretch and then twist my body. This really hits my lower lats as well

[transcend365]

I hear a lot of good points from both sides of the argument all the time about this. However, I can only say from personal experience...I run 5 to 6 days a week between 3.25 and 4.80 miles each run and I've never stretched before the run. I just never did it and I've had no problems. I've been running for years and I'm stuck in my ways so there is a good chance I will never stretch before a run. Sometimes I'll stretch muscle groups while doing free weights because it feels good or if I want to investigate a pain in a specific muscle, but no, I'm not a stretcher and I've had no problems, especially running.

[hotdog12345]

How important is it to warmup is like asking how important is it to breath. Without a proper warmup you do not get a good blood flow and oxygen flow to your muscles which would help you with your workouts. With proper warm up not stretching but warmup you can be more efficent in your workouts maximizing your muscles. Without proper warmup it will lead to injuries and also you wont be utalizing your muscles to the maxium. With stretching it is used for after your workouts not before. It keeps flexibility and also helps from muscle soreness plus proper stretching can lead to maxium muscle growth.

[TaylorBrahh]

when i first started i never warmed up and messed by body up, always warm up now never cool down thou

[JackNbone]

i pulled my shoulder out with no warm up learnt the hard way

[softchicken]

better be safe than sorry =)

[buildhealth]

Warming up keeps you fresh and fit whole day.

[Vzn]

Pulled my shoulder when I didn't loosen up, learned the hard way.

But, the way I warm up is, a couple static stretches, rep really light (e.g. bench bar only), finally a few dynamic stretches - then I'm ready to roll.
The process takes me about 8 mins.

[maxinatlanta]

rich week

Never really paid attention to warming up. After awhile, I reaped a muscle and then could not work out for a while. So, yes, warming up is very important but not always I have time to do that. However, as my grandfather liked to say : " It's like driving in empty fuel tank and saying that you don't have time to fill up - you re too busy - it will catch you later on.

[comings]

oh
.....

[collin2]

The way I supp'd for sports so many years ago (no gramps)

[OneSpartanHero]

Lift smarter, not harder?

Get the blood flowing to start and you'll be good ! If you have some idea what you're doing..

[Shades6091]

yes

[tigerhu45]

A warm-up period is important before any athletic performance; it helps protect against injury by improving flexibility of the muscles. To avoid injury, athletes should raise the body's internal temperature through light activity before engaging in stretching exercises. I see a lot of athletes stretching before lifting (most just are going through the motions without much thought). This is pretty much useless and potentially dangerous without the warm-up.
A general warm-up period should consist of 5 to 10 minutes of aerobic activity (jogging, biking, etc.) to increase heart rate, blood flow, viscosity of fluids, and perspiration. The increase in muscle temperature allows a greater amount of flexibility which readies an athlete for the movement required by his or her sport (ie weight training).
A specific warm-up incorporates movements similar to the movements of the athlete's sport. It involves 8 to 12 minutes of activity or sport-specific stretches, such as shoulder stretches for volleyball players. Additionally, a specific warm-up is sometimes based on the dynamic movements of a given sport or activity. In weight training this would most likely be the "warm-up set" during which a lifted lifts a substantially lighter load.

Remember, the more power necessary for the sport or activity, the more important the warm-up!*

It is easy to get in a hurry and skip this part of your workout, but it is definitely necessary!

As far as supplements, phosphagens and glycogen are the most frequently depleted. Therefore, repletion is important following a workout.

Melissa
M.S., CPT

*Referenced from: Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning by Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. EarleI think that it's happen because I never perform warm up set before work out. I skip the warm up set and life the weight that I should do. (Especially, on Bench Press day.) Now, I do warm up 1 set with 40 - 60% of the normal weight that I expect that I want to lift that day. I do tell everybody to see the necessary of warm up, too. If you never feel pain, you never know how it could be. You have to stop work out for a long time and this not worth.

[tigerhu45]

I heard from trainer in my fitness claim that stretching after workout maybe reduce the recovery time of your muscle. If you can, try to attend the Yoga class, it's helpful.!

[tigerhu45]

Anyway, I think in my country do not have much people lift over-weight much. There are only a few people try to lift over-weight and I do not heard that those guy have seriously injure or not. However, maybe those guy injure but I do not heard.

[tigerhu45]

In my opinion, stretching only the body part you want to workout is just fine and once you finish working. Stretching again for whole body part if you have time is great.

[tigerhu45]

I heard from trainer in my fitness claim that stretching after workout maybe reduce the recovery time of your muscle.

[tigerhu45]

If you can, try to attend the Yoga class, it's helpful.!

[tigerhu45]

today

[Vicjustice]

I know a guy who doesn't do warm ups because he feels tired after warm ups lol

[allonwatson]

How Important Is Warming Up?

Many people are very misinformed about warming up and its importance before a workout. Some people don't warmup at all, others will spend half an hour wasting time and energy before their workout!

Popular belief is that simple stretching before your workout will make you more flexible, loose, and injury free. This is a myth! Conventional stretching before your workout can actually make you more prone to injury, and your lifts will be stronger if you stick to the following warm-up! You should start by getting some blood flowing all over your body and getting your heartrate and temperature to rise a little. This can be accomplished by a few minutes of light jogging.

Next, you'll need to directly warm-up the muscle you're about to work. How many sets you'll need to do this depends on how much weight you're using in the exercise. If you only deadlift 150 pounds, you could probably get by with just two warmup sets, 75 X 6-8 and then 100 X 4-6. However, if you've worked up to very heavy weights, say 500 pounds in the deadlift, you will need to pyramid up in your warm-ups more. Ex: 145 X 10, 245 X 6, 300 X 4, and then you could do 400 X 1, or even 450 X 1 so that the weight jump isn't such a shock. The reason I say this is because if you were to do your last warmup set with 300 pounds for a 500 pound work set, even though you've warmed up the muscles properly, it's quite a big jump and makes the work set seem heavier than it really is. Warming up properly will allow you to use as much weight as possible for your working sets, even up to 25% more than if you hadn't warmed up! How's that for a few minutes of easy work?

Now that the muscles you're going to be working are directly warmed up, you can give the exercise everything you've got and stimulate growth safely. After you're done all sets of the exercise, you can do a very effective form of stretching, called extreme stretching for that muscle. This will not only stretch the fascia of the muscle, but it will greatly improve your recovery time and make you even less prone to injury.

I stretch the muscle I just finished working. So if I just did my heavy incline and decline bench press, I would do an extreme chest stretch. (Lie down flat on a bench with two dumbbells, and drop them into a deep flye. Try to force your elbows down as far as you can for 60 seconds.)

For triceps, sit on a chair with a heavy dumbbell in one hand, in the bottom position of a overhead dumbbell extension. Use your head to push back on your elbow. Hold for 60 seconds, then repeat for the other arm.

For biceps, face away from a power rack with a high barbell in it, about neck height, and reach back gripping it with your hands over the bar. Now squat down as deep as you can go. Hold for 60 seconds.

For back, you can do one of two things. The first is to hang from a chinup bar with a wide grip and straps, and hang on as long as you can with a heavy dumbbell between your legs. The second is to pull on a doornob with a rounded back, and really stretch your lats.

For shoulders, face away from a power rack with a barbell that's shoulder high, then grab it with your palms under the bar. Now walk out infront, still holding the bar, until it gets painful. Now roll your shoulders down and hold for 60 seconds.

For quads, basically do a sissy squat under a hip high barbell, while leaning back as far as you can. Believe me, this is excruciating. Hold for 60 seconds.

Finally, for hamstrings put one leg up on a high barbell, and use try to force your leg straight the whole time. Switch to the other leg after 60 seconds and repeat.

These will be painful, but in the end they will be worth it. Remember, don't stop before your 60 seconds is up!

I think extreme stretching for the bodypart you just finished training is an alright cooldown, but after you're done your workout you can just bring your temperature and heartrate down safely with another very light walk or jog. No need for more stretching, extreme stretching has already taken care of this, and that will definitely speed up your recovery and you won't get as sore the next day. This is for a workout with weights, if you just finished a run you would do things a little differently. Before the run you should slowly bring your temperature and heart rate up by jogging slowly, and increasing speed as needed until you're at the desired intensity for your cardio workout. After your run, you should do another light jog, only slowing down this time instead of speeding up.

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

Right now, the best recovery supplements are protein powder and glutamine. Both are made up of proteins and protein precursors (amino acids) and will make you recover quicker. Shy away from most of fancy new things, you'll be wasting your money. Other than glutamine and whey/casein/egg protein, stick to something tried and true like creatine. For pre-workout, you'll want some simple and complex carbs, as well as a good amount of protein. Most supplements don't contain enough carbs and protein for your post or pre-workout meal, so you're better off eating real food. A good weight gainer can make a nice post or even pre-workout meal however. Pre and post-workout meal requirements are quite similar, for post-workout you'll need about half and half carbs (simple and complex), and a hefty dose of protein. If you really want to use supplements for your post or pre workout meal, stick with a good weight gainer that could meet these requirements (so this means nothing loaded up on useless sugar). Here's a good sample post-workout meal, you can change it to meet your size and liking:

-1-2 cups of milk or water, mixed with 1-2 scoops of whey and 25-75 grams of dextrose
-1/2 cup of oatmeal with yogurt on top (you can eat this cooked or blend it with your shake)
-1 big steak, or other good meat
-2 potatoes, however you like them
-A few glasses of milk if you like

This may seem like alot, but again, this is just an example. You don't need to eat exactly those foods, but shoot for similar protein and carb amounts depending on your size. If you feel like skimping out on your post workout meal, don't, and remember, it's by far the most important meal of the day!

Conclusion:
To wrap things up, warming up and extreme stretching is key to not only keeping injury free and flexible, but also to faster recovery and greater strength! Don't waste your time doing too many warm-up sets, or dive straight into a heavy set of squats, instead do things right by following a plan like the one outlined above and enjoy the benefits!

Very informative post thank you

[nlmain]

talking the time to warm up, stretch and activate helped me go from a 155 to a 225lbs squat in a year. It usually takes me 10-15mins. Well worth my time.

[c24lamp]

-------------------------------------------------------------

TOPIC: How Important Is Warming Up?

For the week of: July 8th - July 13th.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Much of the time you will see people stretching out their legs before a run, or stretching out any body part before they train it. It's also very popular for people to begin warm-up sets before they really get into the workout.

How important is warming up before a workout?

Does stretching help prevent injury and soreness? Could it make someone more prone to injury through over-training?

What types of stretches do you perform before a workout? Do you stretch you whole body or just the body parts you are working that day?

What stretching routine do you follow?

How important is the cool down? Does it affect muscle recovery? Soreness?

BONUS QUESTION: What are the best recovery supplements out right now? What is the most effective pre-workout supplement? Post-workout?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't discuss any other topic in this section. ONLY discuss the question above.

The best response will get $75 in credit to use in our online store! The other good responses will be used in an article on the main Bodybuilding.com site, with the poster's forum name listed by it. Become famous!

Thanks,
Bodybuilding.com

I find that people don't warm up properly till they get injured while training or start to feel discomfort in certain movements. When trying to recover they'll stretch and try and keep those habits. I have always beleive in warming up properly. I dont necessarily mean stretching, but pumping blood into the muscles, warming up rotator cuffs, etc.

[ArreloNal]

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[hannah7733]

Im such an idiot I just wrote an article for this not realising the post is 7 years old =[ lol

[eniko22]

Personally, i would say in the morning around , lets say 6:30 ish. Because:
A: Your testosterone levels are alot higher in the morning than in the after noon or night.
B: your more focused, relaxed because you've like slept for 6-8 hrs.

[eniko22]

Nashville Tennessee. And I am new to eBaum's world.

[eniko22]

Standing barbell curls would be my exercise of choice for biceps. Make sure you pay careful attention to correct standing barbell curling form, although I agree with Arnold that it's fine and good to *sometimes* swing the weight a little on the last

[eniko22]

concentration curls
switch in other lifts but these are my 2 favorite and got the best results as far as peak/size goes.

[eniko22]

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[justi123]

yea this is great

[Sammywin]

better be safe than sorry =)

I totally agree with you

[acyu2012]

what is this?
Word document

[acyu2012]

damn
Pulled my shoulder when I didn't loosen up, learned the hard way.

But, the way I warm up is, a couple static stretches, rep really light (e.g. bench bar only), finally a few dynamic stretches - then I'm ready to roll.
The process takes me about 8 mins.

[acyu2012]

yes indeed
better be safe than sorry =)

[frisor]

It is very important in all sports

[nirma1230]

mmmmm its really helpful and informative...