Stretching is extremely important. You want to make sure you stretch all major muscle groups before beginning any workout - but you want to take a short (say, 5 minute) warmup jog or walk first. Why? You don't want to stretch cold muscles. Think of a rubber-band. It becomes brittle when cold. Same with your muscles. Walk or jog for a few minutes, warm up those muscles, then start stretching.

Remember, when you stretch: don't bounce! Stretch as far as you can without discomfort, and then hold that stretch for 10 to 30 seconds. As you hold it, your muscle will start to loosen up, and you may actually find that after 30 seconds you can stretch a bit further. Don't bounce up and down in your stretch, though, as you risk tearing the muscle. This whole stretching routine, below should take 5 to 10 minutes.

Here are some of my favorite stretches. We'll add more in the future, with pictures and better descriptions.

Standing

• Neck rolls, tilts, twists
• Arm circles, forward & back
• Touch the sky
• Torso twists
• Pull arms over chest
• Pull arms behind back (over & under)
• Hip bends (front, back, sides)
• Hanging toe touch (just hang there)
• Bent knee toe touch
• Stretch hams & calves against the wall
• Quads pull back
• Chest & arm stretch against the wall

Sitting

• Torso twist leg over
• Legs together, touch toes
• Legs apart, touch each toe
• Quads, leg back
• Groin

Squatting

• Groin
• Inner thigh leg out
• Back, lean forward and relax

On All Fours

• Cat stretches, up and down
• Leg to the side and extend
• Leg kick up and tuck in

Lying on Back

• Torso twists, leg over
• Knees to chin
• Foot to chin
• Pelvic thrust
• Ab crunch warmup

Lying on Front

• Superman

Standing at a Bar (or something else high like a chair back)

• Leg up - stretch hams to front
• Leg up - stretch hams, inner thigh, and groin to side
• Calf stretches
• Quads back

That's it. Now you're ready to workout.

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