VOA健康报道2024--For Exercising, When and How Should You Stretch?

For Exercising, When and How Should You Stretch?

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Years ago, the traditional advice was to do some stretching before exercising. Over the years, that advice changed to stretching after exercising. It turns out that both advice can be true. And that can lead to some confusion.

Stretching can help make you more flexible. The more you stretch, the more you improve the range of motion in your joints². This not only feels good, but it also can prevent injury and lead to better physical results.

David Behm researches human body movements at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Canada. Speaking with the Associated Press, he offers advice on when to stretch and how to do it safely.

Warm up first

It is almost always good to stretch. However, Behm, says it is better if you warm up first. He suggests light aerobic³ activity such as jogging, walking or cycling for five to 10 minutes.

He suggests to follow that warm-up movement with static stretching. This traditional way of stretching involves reaching your body into different positions and holding them for about one minute each.

Then you can do dynamic stretching related to specific exercises or activities. This is where you warm up the muscles with repeated movements like leg lifts.

Expand your definition of 'stretching'

Should you always stretch before exercising? If it is traditional static stretching, not necessarily, Behm says.

The better questions, he says, are, "Should people increase their range of motion? Should people have better flexibility⁴? And that is yes, because it helps prevent injuries. It helps with health. But you don't have to stretch to achieve that."

Resistance training, for example, can be an effective form of stretching. Doing a chest press increases range of motion in your arm and chest muscles. Whether you use barbells, dumbbells or machines, there is no need to stretch beforehand. However, Behm warns to start with a small amount of weight to warm up and then add more to train.

He adds that you do not need to stretch first if you are going for a short run. Simply start with a slow jog to warm up and then increase the speed.

Don't do it if it hurts

After exercise, light stretching is fine, as long as you do not feel pain, Behm says. Because your muscles will be warm by that point, overdoing⁵ it makes you more likely to injure yourself.

Foam⁶ rollers can help with muscle recovery and have been shown to increase range of motion as well as stretching.

Do some static stretching before sports

If you're playing a sport, Behm says, static stretching beforehand helps reduce muscle and tendon injury.

Sports like gymnastics, ice skating, and golf require a great range of motion. For these activities, he suggests extra stretching specific to those sports.

"If you're going to do an explosive movement, change of direction, agility⁷, sprint⁸, any of these explosive activities that involve your muscles and tendons," he said, "you're going to be stronger if you do static stretching."

People can especially get in trouble when they go back to a sport they used to play. Stretching can prepare muscles that may be out of shape. Also, he says to stretch both sides of your body equally. Lacking flexibility on one side also can lead to injury.

Sounds simple. Why all the confusion?

Different studies over the years have led to different advice about stretching before exercise. Behm says that is partly because some studies did not consider real-life conditions. Also, some researchers designed studies with high-performance athletes in mind and not regular people.

"If you're Usain Bolt, it makes a difference," he said. For the rest of us ... not so much.

Words in This Story

flexible - adj. capable of being bent⁹

range of motion - n. the extent or limit to which a part of the body can be moved around a joint¹ or a fixed¹⁰ point

aerobic - adj. of, relating to, or being activity which increases the body's demand for oxygen thereby¹¹ resulting in marked temporary increase in respiration¹² and heart rate

static - adj. standing¹³ or fixed in one place

dynamic - adj. always active, moving or changing

tendon - n. a tough cord or band of dense¹⁴ white connective tissue that links a muscle to some other part (as a bone)

agility - n. the quality or state of being able to move quickly and easily

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

3 aerobic   

adj.需氧的，增氧健身法的，有氧的

参考例句：

• Aerobic exercise helps to build up stamina.有氧健身操有助于增强耐力。
• Aerobic dance is conductive to the health.有氧舞蹈有助于健康。

4 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

5 overdoing   

v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• He's been overdoing things recently. 近来他做事过分努力。 来自辞典例句
• You think I've been overdoing it with the work thing? 你认为我对工作的关注太过分了吗？ 来自电影对白

6 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

7 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

8 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

9 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

12 respiration   

n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用

参考例句：

• They tried artificial respiration but it was of no avail.他们试做人工呼吸，可是无效。
• They made frequent checks on his respiration,pulse and blood.他们经常检查他的呼吸、脉搏和血液。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。