Should You Stretch Before Exercise? Not necessarily. It's not proven to help prevent injury, curb muscle soreness after exercise, or improve your performance. Static stretching before exercise can weaken performance, such as sprint speed, in studies.

Is it better to stretch or warm up before a workout?

It is very important that you perform the general warm-up before you stretch. It is not a good idea to attempt to stretch before your muscles are warm (something which the general warm-up accomplishes). Warming up can do more than just loosen stiff muscles; when done properly, it can actually improve performance.

Is it important to stretch before working out?

Prepares the Body for the Stress of Exercise

Stretching prior to exercise allows the muscles to loosen up and become resistant to the impact they are about to undergo, thereby reducing the chance of injury.