Post-Workout Stretching

Make your strength-training regimen work even harder. Post-workout stretching can help build muscle strength.

Adding a stretching routine to your workout may help build muscle faster. That’s according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. In the study, all participants performed weight-resistance exercises three times a week. Half of them did two 30-minute stretching sessions a week, in addition to the strengthening routine.

After eight weeks, those in the stretching group showed twice the improvement in muscle strength as those who did weight-resistance exercises alone. According to the study’s author, exercise physiologist Jason Winchester, Ph.D., stretching should always be done at the end of your workout, after you’re warmed up.