What is warm-up?

In common parlance, stretching is often equated with warming up. When warming up, however, the body is brought to a so-called operating temperature. The muscles are better supplied with blood and are passed on higher loads.

The warming up takes place by loose perseverance loads (running, cycling etc.). The more muscles are involved in warming up, the more effectively an injury is prevented. As a matter of principle, a warm-up program should be carried out before every training session, regardless of the type of training. After approx. 5 – 10 minutes with a heart rate of 125 – 135 the muscles are at the right temperature.

When to stretch and when not to stretch?

Stretching exercises before sports Before any kind of sports load, be it a form of strength, speed or endurance, the muscles must first be warmed up before stretching. For endurance exercises, you should trot loosely for 10 minutes beforehand, and then extend the warming up by specific stretching exercises of the leg muscles (see below). The stretching exercises should not take more than 5 to 10 minutes at most.

Warming up is essential for speed training. A targeted stretching program is not recommended, as this can result in a loss of performance. Strength training is not much different from speed training.

The only difference is that the muscle group to be trained should be warmed up locally. This is done by performing the movement with a very high number of repetitions (>40) and minimum weight (10% of maximum power). The muscle is not only warmed up, but also coordinated with the training (e.g. free bench press on the flat bench).

Stretching exercises before sport are therefore neither necessary nor performance-enhancing, but they are also not harmful in terms of the risk of injury. However, if you are in the habit of stretching before sport, or for psychological reasons, you should not do it. Stretching after sport For a long time, it was said that stretching after sport prevents sore muscles (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS for short).

This statement is no longer up to date. Recent studies have shown that stretching exercises are more likely to promote sore muscles than to prevent them. Especially after strength and endurance lines, it is advisable to prevent unwanted muscle soreness by warming up (running out, loosening of the muscles). Also an active regeneration, such as sauna, massages are very advisable after a training. However, if you do not want to do without stretching exercises after exercise, you should make sure that there is a break of at least 45 minutes between the last exercise and the stretching exercises.