It's Important to Stretch

I talked last night about the importance of warming up and cooling down when working out, strength training.

Stretching is not the only type of warm up, cool down activity that you can do. You can ride a bike, walk, jog, or jump rope. Personally I like to jump rope, and use a fitness ball.
However it is important that you stretch as well as one or more of these other exercises. Stretching can help prevent an injury, and post-exercise muscle soreness, as well as improve your range of motion (ROM).

I do the same stretching set before and after a work out. I like to do the set backwards in cool down, to keep me concentrating, and I prefer to go from Lying to Standing before then, Standing to Lying afterwards. Each stretch I do is held for a count of 30, and it's really important to focus on the area your stretching while your stretching it. This seems to intensify the stretch.

My stretching routing looks like this: (If your unsure of any of the stretches follow the links)

Position	Stretch
Lying Down	Groin Stretch
	Lying Tuck
Sitting	Groin Stretch
	Ham String Stretch
	Iliotibial Band Stretch
	Golfers Elbow Stretch Level 1
	Golfers Elbow Stretch Level 2
	Tennis Elbow Stretch Level 1
	Tennis Elbow Stretch level 2
Keeling	Chest Stretch
	Lat Stretch
	Cat Stretch
Standing	Calf Stretch
	Soleus Stretch
	Groin Stretch
	Ham String Stretch
	Quadriceps Stretch

Then the same but backwards for after my weight lifting routine.

If your would like to know more about stretching this is a nice document: Stretching and Flexibility - How to Stretch.
I love how fit, and healthy I'm feeling now. I have so much more energy and I feel great. Good luck, have fun, and stay healthy :-)