Strength Training: How to Properly Stretch Before Arm Workouts

Hello, welcome back to my blog! I hope all of you had a fantastic time celebrating this holiday season. Today, I will be writing about stretching and how to properly stretch before working out. There are various stretches you perform to warm up certain muscles. While some stretches work better for some then others, today I will be focusing on my personal favorite arm stretches.

Arms are frequently used in strength training, so they are very important to stretch. The first arm stretch is stretching your triceps muscles. In order to perform this stretch you need to stand shoulder width apart with your back straight. Raise one arm vertically beside your head and bend your arm at the elbow and touch the top of your back with our hand. Next, with the other hand grab the elbow and slowly pull it behind your head and stop when you feel a good stretch of the muscles. However,  remember not to pull to hard to where pain is felt because this can lead to injuries. This stretches multiple muscles which are the teres major, the triceps brachii, and the latissimus dorsi and is important in preventing tricep injury. Delavier writes, "These stretching exercises for the triceps help avoid tears, which may occur with heavy lifting on the triceps, but also when executing heavy pullovers or heavy vertical pulls" (Delavier 31). This shows that performing this stretch is very important when trying to avoid tricep injures while lifting heavy weights. 

 Another stretch is one that stretches the deltoids, trapezius, and neck. While stretching the deltoids and trapezius is important in preparation for arm workouts, stretching the neck is extremely important in preparing to do ab workouts. Stretching the neck is essential because some individuals depend on the strength of their neck in order to complete workouts such as sit-ups. This is very bad and can strain your neck, but if you stretch your neck before performing abdomen workouts, neck injuries can be prevented. To do this workout stand with your legs slightly apart and your back straight. Next, place one arm behind your back and grasp the wrist with your opposite hand. Slowly pull the arm down towards the outside of your body  to feel the stretch in your deltoid and trapezius. While pulling the arm that is being stretched bend your neck to the side opposite of the shoulder being stretched. Make sure to stop when you feel a stretch in your neck that does not include pain.

To conclude, there are multiple way to warm-up and stretch your arms before a workout but these are just a few ways you can do so. I enjoy performing these stretches before a workout and also before I play basketball. I believe they are a great way to stretch the muscles in the arm and to prepare me for a workout. Since I shared my favorite arm stretches, what are some of your favorite ways to warm up your muscles before working out?


Works Cited
Delavier, FreÌdeÌric. Strength Training Anatomy . Third ed., Human Kinetics, 2010.