before I elliptical or run on the treadmill?
I haven't been lately and I can definitely feel soreness in my legs but I've never seen anyone strech before using either :/

My DH stretches before the elliptical. I personally do not. I don't know if it makes a difference or not for me - at the beginning I was always sore, not now. I do ALWAYS stretch before I run, because the one time I didn't I felt like someone had tied my legs into knots and then run over them with a small car.

DH says that if he gets on the elliptical without stretching that he can't workout for as long and is sore for days. I would imagine that the official answer is probably yes, you should stretch.

yes you should stretch or at least do a warm up/cool down before and after. Before helps prevent injury and gets your muscles ready for your workout. Afterwards cool down and stretching lengthens your muscles to help cut down on muscle soreness.

I know there's a cool down option on the elliptical and I usually pick it afterwards but I'm confused about whether that's a 3 minute cooldown same speed or 3 minute cooldown where you gradually slow your pace...

I don't stretch beforehand, but I do do a 5 min warmup where I gradually increase my speed and level. The ellipticals at my gym also have a cooldown cycle. It seems to be 5 minutes at decreasing levels, but it's hard to tell. I often get off and do 5 minutes walking on the treadmill unitl my heartrate is down. I stretch after that. It does seem to help with the stiffness.

There's two types of stretching though.

Dynamic stretching (moving while stretching, i.e., arm swings, knee rotations, neck circles) should be done to warm the body up.

Static stretching (holding a stretching exercise in one position without movement) should be done AFTER the body is warmed up.

I would do some dynamic stretching before the elliptical/treadmill and then definitely don't skip the static stretching afterwards.

~CGH~

The NY Times has a great article on this. (I haven't been here long enough to post a link, but search the title, "To Stretch or Not to Stretch? The Answer is Elastic."

A quote from it follows:

I've read that it is dangerous to do static stetching without warming up first.

Since the elliptical is pretty low impact for me, I usually just jump right into it. In fact, I'll frequently use the ellipitcal as a dynamic warmup for other exercise--weight lifting and/or the TM. But I would never get on the TM cold; I have enough injuries already. So if I'm not already warmed up, I always start at a warm-up pace for three to five min before ramping up my speed on the TM. But then I generally run intervals starting at 7.8 mph and increasing to 8.8 mph--going from 0 to 7.8 is not smart!

FYI, here are a couple of entries on this topic from a blog I read:

• 3 Pre-Run Moves
• The Best Time to Stetch Part 2
• The Best Time to Stetch Part 3
• The Best Time to Stetch Part 4

Not that I follow any of his advice. I hate warm-ups and stretching because it always feels like a waste of time. It's all I can do to make myself stretch at the end of a workout.

Personally, i leave the stretches. sure stretches are great for your flexibility and can ease a lot of ailments like sore backs/necks ect, but i dont believe it is that beneficial before you exercise/use the elliptical. i know alot of people who would oppose me on saying that but its just what ive worked out for myself over the past few years.