Stephen Mills, via email
Matt Hart answers: They're both right. Running with tight muscles can cause injury, but if you try to stretch cold muscles you risk tearing them, which is a paradox because the aim of stretching is to prevent muscle damage.
Do a gentle warm-up before stretching to raise your core muscular temperature. A gentle five-minute jog should be enough. Then stretch all the major muscle groups of the lower body including quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes and adductors. Don't bounce your stretches - just hold each one for ten seconds. Only then are you ready to run.


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