Greetings! My name is Vyacheslav Komakha. Since 2009, I have been helping people regain flexibility, joint health, and grace by sharing my experiences in training and on my resource flexderek.com. Every day in the gym I see the same picture: a person comes to training, barely changed clothes, sits on the cold floor and begins to reach for his socks with all his might, overcoming extreme pain. Or, even worse, he makes sudden movements, trying to “warm up”. Is this a familiar picture? Unfortunately, this Stretching before exercise It's not just useless - it's dangerous. Today we will look in detail at what critical mistakes when Stretching before exercise even experienced athletes do, and how to implement scientifically based rules for Stretching before training into your routine to protect your joints and increase your strength.
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The main mistakes when Stretching before training: what you should absolutely not do
Over the years of coaching practice, I have become convinced that most injuries in fitness do not occur during lifting heavy weights, but at the stage of improper preparation of the body for loads. Let's once and for all sort out the main misconceptions that prevent you from progressing and destroy your ligaments.
Static Stretching for cold muscles
This is perhaps the most common and dangerous violation. Imagine a dry rubber band that has been left in the cold for a long time. What happens if you suddenly stretch it? It will crack or tear. The same thing happens with your muscle fibers and tendons. Static Stretching is holding a stationary position for 30-60 seconds. If you do this before the main session without pre-warming, you are guaranteed to get microtears in the tissue. The body will respond to this with a protective spasm: the muscles will clamp even tighter to prevent further destruction.
The desire to do the splits during warm-up
Warming up before training has one goal - to prepare the musculoskeletal system for work, improve blood circulation and tune the nervous system. Trying to push your flexibility to the limit by doing splits or double folds right before strength training or cardio is a huge mistake. Deep Stretching relaxes the muscles and reduces their tone. Scientific research shows that prolonged static Stretching before exercise reduces explosive strength and overall strength performance by 10-15%. Muscles temporarily lose the ability to contract quickly and powerfully.
Ballistic (sharp) movements
Swinging your legs with maximum amplitude, sharp downward bends with springing movements without body control is a direct path to the traumatologist’s office. When a muscle is suddenly stretched, the so-called “myotatic reflex” (stretch reflex) is triggered. The brain perceives a sudden movement as a threat of rupture and instantly commands the muscle to contract. As a result, you pull it in one direction, and it reflexively shrinks in the other. The result is sprains, tendon damage and severe pain.
The golden rules of Stretching before training: how to prepare the body correctly
Now that we know what not to do, let's build a correct, safe and highly effective training system. These principles are based on human physiology and my many years of experience working with clients of various skill levels.
Rule #1: Warm up first, then dynamics
Never start Stretching immediately after entering the gym. The first 5-7 minutes should be devoted to light cardio (elliptical walking, light running, stationary bike) or joint exercises. Your goal is to increase your body temperature, activate the production of synovial (joint) fluid, which works as a lubricant for the joints, and increase your heart rate. Only when you feel a slight warmth throughout your body can you move on to Stretching.
Rule #2: Focus on Dynamic Stretching
Dynamic Stretching is controlled, gentle movements within your range of motion that mimic the movements of the upcoming workout. Instead of being stuck in one position, you are constantly in motion. This not only lengthens muscle fibers, but also improves intermuscular coordination, warms up the nervous system and prepares joints for the biomechanics of exercise.
Rule #3: Breathing control and no pain
Any movements during preparation should be performed while exhaling. Breathing should be even, deep and calm. If you hold your breath, the body perceives this as stress and goes into defense mode, tensing all muscle groups. As for pain: forget the phrase “no pain, no result.” Before training, you should only feel pleasant tension, warmth and freedom of movement. There should be no sharp, cutting or shooting pain.
Step-by-step dynamic warm-up complex from Vyacheslav Komakha
To make it easier for you to implement these principles into your practice, I have prepared a simple but incredibly effective set of dynamic training. Perform it from top to bottom - from the neck to the feet.
Warm-up of the cervical and shoulder girdle
- Smooth head turns: Slowly turn your head to the right and left, trying to look over your shoulder. Do not make sudden movements or throw your head back. Repeat 8-10 times in each direction.
- Shoulder rotations: Rotate your shoulder joints backwards with maximum amplitude. This opens the chest and improves posture before exercise. Do 15 backward rotations and 5 forward rotations.
- Dynamic arm raises: As you inhale, spread your arms wide to the sides, squeezing your shoulder blades. As you exhale, hug yourself by the shoulders, rounding your upper back. Repeat 12 times.
Mobilization of the thoracic region and lower back
- Dynamic side bends: Place your feet shoulder-width apart, place one hand on your belt, and raise the other up. Perform smooth bends to the side, Stretching the side line of the body. The movement must be continuous and sliding. Do 10 bends in each direction.
- Pelvic rotations: Place your hands on your waist and perform circular movements with your pelvis at a moderate pace. This exercise perfectly lubricates the hip joints and relieves tension from the sacral region. Perform 12 rotations in each direction.
- Smooth body twists: Keeping your pelvis motionless, perform gentle body turns to the right and left, relaxing your arms. This activates the deep stabilizer muscles of the spine. Repeat 15–20 times.
Dynamic preparation of the hips and legs
- Controlled leg swings: Hold on to a support (wall or machine stand). Perform smooth swings of your leg back and forth. Increase the amplitude gradually. The movement should come from the hip, not the lower back. Perform 15 swings for each leg.
- Dynamic lunges with body rotation: Take a long step forward, lowering into a lunge. From this position, smoothly turn your body towards your front leg and stretch your arm up. Return to the starting position and change legs. This exercise perfectly opens the pelvis and stretches the hip flexors. Do 8 reps on each side.
- Rolls in a deep side lunge: Place your feet very wide. Shift your body weight to one leg, bending it at the knee, and straighten the other leg. Smoothly, without lifting your pelvis high, roll from one leg to the other. This perfectly warms up the adductor muscles of the thigh. Perform 10 rolls.
The physiology of proper tension: how it works from the inside
In order for you to consciously approach the process, it is important to understand what is happening in your body at the physiological level. Our muscles and tendons contain special receptors - muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs. They constantly monitor the length of the muscle and its rate of change.
When we perform gentle dynamic Stretching, we send a signal to the brain that the joints and muscles are ready to work at an increased amplitude. The nervous system temporarily reduces the stiffness of muscle fibers, allowing you to move more freely and deeply. This significantly reduces the risk of injury when performing deep squats, bench presses, or while running.
If you use rigid statics before training, you overload the nervous system. The muscle goes into a state of inhibition. The brain begins to “think” that the muscle is damaged and blocks its ability to contract powerfully. This is why strength indicators always fall after improper Stretching.
Conclusion: Your path to a healthy and flexible body
To summarize, Stretching is a powerful tool for managing your body, but only if you use it wisely. Remember a simple formula: before training, we use exclusively dynamic Stretching to warm up and activate the nervous system, and transfer heavy static work to develop flexibility to the end of training or set aside a separate day for it.