Quote:
Originally Posted by modkittn
You need to stretch before you walk! I usually do a bunch of stretches, but the one you should do is called the Gastroc Stretch. You can find other stretches here:
http://www.halhigdon.com/15Ktraining/Stretch.htm
I do the Gastroc Stretch, Quadriceps Stretch, and Hamstring Stretch before every walk and jog.
I am going to have to strongly disagree here.
You don't want to do your stretching before your walking...you want to stretch afterwards, after the muscle is warm and pliable. You want to warm up before your walk, however, to prepare your muscles for the activity. Basically, if you walk briskly at 3.5mph, then walk the first couple of minutes at a slower pace, to warm up the muscles.
When your walk, or workout is complete-you want to do the stretching AFTERWARDS. This also goes for any exercise-running, walking, weights, etc. you want to stretch out the worked muscle after the activity.