Title: To Stretch or Not to Stretch, That is the Question.
Topic: How stretching before working out in the gym or going for a jog can be bad for your muscles.
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to not stretch before they work out, and to perform other exercises instead.
Thesis statement: Today I will try to persuade you that stretching before you work out at the gym or go for a jog can be bad, and can harm your muscles.
INTRODUCTION
Attention material: To stretch or not to stretch, that is the question everyone must ask himself or herself before they perform a demanding physical activity. Most, if not all of us have this theory that stretching before actually doing anything at the gym will make our work outs easier. Well, …show more content…
No matter how long you stretch, it will not make a difference.
B. Further Research shows how stretching can increase injury risk.
1. In a study conducted by Harvard Health in 2011, the study concluded that people who were not used to stretching but did so for the sake of the study had a 22% increase risk of injury.
2. In an article found on Livestrong.com on January 2014, five reasons are mentioned as to why stretching may increase a risk in injury. (ruptures tissue, masks muscle pain…)
3. In the article “Stretching Before and After Exercise: Effect on Muscle Soreness and Injury Risk” studies show how experiments were conducted on army officials, and resulted in a fail for showing a difference when army officials would stretch.
(Transition: Moving on, I will now show you what kind of stretching is common but bad, and I will then show you what to do instead!).
III. When to stretch and how to stretch.
A. When should you stretch?
1. As mentioned in Time magazine to on April 24th 2014, stretching to prepare for your day is fine and can improve your posture and flexibility.
2. Studies show that stretching before working out may decrease muscle strength.
B. What to do instead of the usual