by Lesplease » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:38 am
Generally in a warm up you can run through the motions of your exercises sans weight. Jumping jacks, a short jog, things like that can help to. I like moving through the motions becuase it directly hits the muscles you'll be using and you can be sure not to miss anything. I like to get my HR up too before I start, so I'll usually hula hoop for a few minutes, jog or do a quick turn on a bike or ellptical.
Stretching should be done aftera work out, while the muscles are warm and loose. This can prevent injury, and stretching cold muscles is a bad idea.