Week 2- Is stretching before hiking bad for you?

As a yoga teacher I get asked all the time- Should we stretch before our hike or workout?

First and foremost, I want to differentiate before stretching and warming the joints/creating mobility. There is a lot of research showing that long held stretches before a workout are not a recipe for performing optimally because lengthened muscles are less reactive. What that means for you is they won’t perform as well in the moment. Instead we want to focus on joint exercises that mobilize the joints and prepare our body for action and save the long held stretches (like the post hike stretch video) for after! This video breaks down some of favorite ways to mobilize the joints and warm up the body for any activity!