Lots of people stretch before training by trying to touch their toes and such, but this is completely wrong. I mentioned the detailed reasons why static stretching before training is nonsense in a separate article, and for today's needs, you should primarily know that stretching before training must be dynamic. This is the only way to effectively support performance, ensure a certain prevention of injury and also switch to a kind of training mode. It is the last point that is extremely important – it is naive to think that after sitting in an office chair all day, your body will suddenly switch to a state where it will perform at its maximum in the gym.
What should such a warm up look like?
Now that you know that a proper stretch should be dynamic, you should also know that ideally it should be a matter of at least half an hour and should consist of three independent parts. The first part should consist of some kind of general warm-up - you can achieve this on an exercise bike, treadmill or perhaps with rowing machine. The length of this part tends to be highly individual, but it is important that you do not tire yourself out in any way before training - so do not devote more than 10 minutes to it. It is good to allocate roughly the same amount of time to dynamic stretching itself. Well, the third part of the dynamic warm-up should consist of completing warm-up series for individual exercises. If you are going to train your legs, for example, do a few sets of squats with your own weight, a few lunges and maybe a few sets with minimal load on the leg press. Although it may sound boring, in reality such a warm-up will prepare you well for proper training performances.
What tools to use?
While many athletes aren't too fond of pre-workout stretching, it's actually a very good activity with dozens of different moves to choose from and if you're at least slightly interested, it'll avoid any training stereotype. Especially if you'll use one of these three tools:
Lacrosse ball
A lacrosse ball will help you focus on more specific parts of individual muscle groups. You don't see it that often anymore, but it costs a few pounds and does a good job. It is mostly a rubber and relatively hard massage ball, which is able to exert really good pressure on individual muscle groups. Many experts recommend it especially for foot activation, which is extremely important before training squats and deadlifts, but a lacrosse ball will come in handy more or less all the time. Of course, other types of balls can be used, but the lacrosse ball is generally the most recommended due to its hardness.
Resistance bands
Resistance bands also have a huge range of uses and can be used both for stretching before training and as a variable load on dumbbells. For example, a deadlift is great, where you have one end of the band wrapped around the bar and you stand on the other. As soon as you lift the barbell off the ground, the rubber stretches and the load becomes heavier for you. In addition, you can also use the resistance bands for stretching or light home training.
Foam roller
Certainly the most famous of the tools that I must not forget in today's article is the foam roller. As the name suggests, this is a foam roller that is used to massage more or less all parts of the body. The big advantage is that most good gyms already have a foam roller available, so you most likely won't need to take anything extra to the gym.