Every once in awhile, someone will bring in an article from a national magazine that speaks about the negatives of stretching. For someone who doesn’t want to stretch, this is great copy and an excuse for him/her not to.

The argument in one of the articles said that stretching cold muscles before a workout could cause tears and decrease muscular strength. Both, however, are easily avoided while partaking in an action that could help more than hurt. To avoid loss of muscular strength while lifting, simply limit the time of each stretch to 10-15 seconds. That is long enough to decrease lactic acid but not long enough to relax muscles so much that they won’t fire as hard the next set.

To avoid an injury from stretching a cold muscle, do the bulk of your stretching at the end of your workout.

In the world of physical therapy, stretching is used to prevent and treat injuries. For example: 1) Lower back pain can be caused by tight hamstrings, hip flexors or hip rotators; 2) Tight lats and pecs pull the shoulder forward to cause rotator cuff pain; 3) Tight Achilles Tendons will make your trot across the tennis court quite painful. Simple stretching exercises can cure all of these problems!

You can start stretching now and head off the ailments, or wait for an injury and spend your time in physical therapy learning how to stretch.