Stretching

Do you stretch before or after a workout? What kind of stretching are you doing?

I stretch after. I do yoga and foam rolling, mostly.

I've tried stretching beforehand but found that I actually got injured more often. Now I just do a light jog on the treadmill for a few minutes, some back extensions / facepulls etc. depending on what I'm doing that day and get on with it.

YMMV, but there's a fair bit of research which indicates that pre-workout stretching is counter-productive and actually increases soft tissue injuries rather than preventing them.
 
I do restorative yoga for 10-20m every night before bed. These are simple yet effective poses held for a minimum of 90s. Up to 5m but I rarely hit one pose that long unless I'm doing a full hour. It helps on several different levels. I sleep better, I feel less sore the next day and I stop getting those weird tweaks, aches and pains that happen sometimes if I move in a weird way.

I do some band-distractions post workout. Those help a TON if I am feeling particularly tight somewhere after a workout. For example, squatting makes my adductors pretty tight, so i will hook a band on a squat rack, put it right above my knee at a right angle and do a lunge. The band is essentially pulling my knee outward to get a deep stretch on the adductor.
 
I am not flexible never have been. This is more of a comment on yoga. After my back surgery I was still in and out of the chiropractor office. Started doing a full body workout with yoga on my day off( every other day). Best I felt in my life quit with the chiro didn't have problems. Then my shift at work changed and it went out the door. Maybe I need to go back to that for a bit to get me back into lifting and feel better. Covid destroyed my motivation. Also stretch after from what I understand stretching will cause micro tears and when you hold it will lengthen the muscles which you don't want when lifting. But what do I know I see guys foam roll their legs in between squat sets
 
I do it after dinner i workout at noon.

you dont want to do staric stretching before workout, maybe some dynamic stretching at most, as a light warmup.

but stretching before is counter productive because when you stretch the muscle you weaken them a bit. Causing a strength loss.
 
i use that stretching machine , just do each shoulder 2 times for 15 sec hold and lower back. Its been my routine first thing i do when i get to the gym for the past 3 years and maybe its whats keeping me nice and injury free. then i do light weights before my sets if im going to dumbell bench 90lb dumbells - i will first do 20 lbs 10 reps, 45 pounds 10 reps, 65 - 6 reps , 75 6 reps and then off to my 90's for 3 sets
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Hoenstly ever since I started to stretch Its like night and day. Its absolutely amazing what it does for my lower back and hips.
My lower back pain goes away 3 days into stretching. Espiecially when lifting hard. If i stop for 1 day it comes back. So staying with it, consistently, no pain. It only takes 10 minutes.

i feel my posture much better also.
 
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