Experts says Not Stretching Gives a Better Workout

The latest Research from some experts in London is to not carry our stretching exercises prior to a workout.

We all take it for granted that we should do some stretching to loosen our muscles prior to working out. However, many fitness experts are increasing stating that such routines can end up being very harmful.

Stretching exercises such as bending over to touch your toes more often causes your muscles to tighten which is the opposite of what we need to happen. This is because when we stretch, our bodies may think that it is being overstretched and react by contracting the muscle which makes it more likely that you could have an injury while exercising.


Instead of stretching, many experts recommend warming up with a light jog or sport-specific exercise, like kicking for football or a few serves for tennis. That type of light movement increases the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles, warming up the body temperature.

Maximizing the benefits of stretching may simply boil down to a matter of when you do it and how, according to Jonny Booth, a health and fitness manager at a north London branch of gym chain Fitness First.

"If you are going to stretch your muscles and then do some intense training, you're not going to get fantastic results," he said.

Instead, Booth recommends active stretches that mimic the movement of your intended activity, like some deep knee lunges while walking for runners.

Use Simple Body Weight Exercises to Get in Shape

Lean muscle mass in turn will speed the body's metabolism and help burn calories. So if you cannot get to the gym it appears that the ability to get in shape is elusive. The key word here is "appear". You see, there is an alternative to the traditional weightlifting program most associated with going to the gym. It comes in the form of bodyweight exercises.

As the name implies, bodyweight exercises are resistance exercises that are performed without any weights whatsoever. You simply use your body's own natural weight to create the resistance that develops lean muscle mass. These exercises have been popular for hundreds of years and for a very good reason - they work!

What are the most popular bodyweight exercises? Let's have a look at them...

The pushup is probably the most well known of all the bodyweight exercises. It is an excellent exercise that primarily works the chest and the biceps. However, other parts of the upper body can be stressed depending on your hand placement. Performing multiple variations of the push up will yield a total body workout.

Lower body development can be achieved with a simple squat. Most assume that squats are useless without adding free weights to the movement. One can develop sold muscle development in the lower body with only squats. However, working up to high repetitions may be necessary. The abdominal region is the core of the body. If you work the core, the rest of the body will develop a harmonious balance of symmetrical strength. The abdominals are the epicentre of the "x" your body forms with your legs and arms. I the epicentre is weak, the body as a whole will be weak.

Now some may assume that there is a need to perform hundreds of reps. All you need to do is perform the amount you are capable of doing without discomfort. Simply do the number of reps you can and then increase them as your strength increases.

Best of all, these exercises can be performed at any time of the day or night and at any location. So, no matter what your own personal exercise schedule may be, it is not difficult to maintain a decent body weight exercise program that will help you develop functional strength, build muscle and get in decent shape.

How to Get Those Muscles to Die For

Exercise is definitely the most productive means to preserving muscle. It’s a shame that most people just don't know which muscle groups to focus and work on to achieve the goal of building muscles that they crave.

People will often get mistaken by the terms such as "re-building muscle mass" because they will tend to think that this is only done by working out in the gym to build muscles in the arms, chest and shoulders. Although working out in the gym can build muscles, what they will never be able to understand is the association of muscle building and the age-related sarcopenia ( The loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with ageing) .

The upper extremities contain only 15% of the body's total muscle mass and you can increase their size by 200% without any obvious difference in the measurement of body's total muscle mass. If any significant breakthrough is to be made, then the major muscle groups are to be targeted.

What most "Fitness fanatics" don't realize is, the biggest muscles in the body are the quadriceps on the front of the thighs. Next to them are the gluteus muscles in the buttocks. Third in place are the hamstrings on the back of the thighs. Therefore, the key to activating the "anti-aging" factor in exercising is focus on exercises that work on flexing and extending the hip joint.

Another key to building muscle successfully is to focus on performing compound exercises that move more than one joint with the heaviest weights right from the start of exercises. By working on the major muscle groups first, faster results are made possible because that's how our body runs itself.

Exercises can also be performed with movements that extend over a wide range of motion for the major muscle groups such as the legs and the back. But for most men, one of the fastest ways to build muscle is with a "Split Routines."

By "Split Routines" it is meant that exercises are not performed in the same manner every time workout is done. Instead, exercises are split into 2 groups and each is performed on different days.

Aerobic exercises also must be added to every workout regime. They support peak cardiopulmonary function. Bear in mind though, that long duration cardiovascular exercises will cause the body to strip muscles by itself. Cardio endurance activities such as jogging will burn off our body's hard-earned muscle.

Therefore, knowing which exercises to perform that can produce results fast and efficiently is one of the most important things any "workout nuts" must know.

Always work on the major muscle groups to produce massive and evident result first because not only do these exercises produce fast results, but also they re-adjust the metabolism of the body in such a way that those with fast metabolism - people who can't