Those who began working out later in life and weren’t student athletes might not know that there are techniques for weightlifting, exercising and stretching that ensure the exerciser gets the most from their workout and doesn’t harm themself.
These techniques are crucial to ensuring the safety of the person working out, and should be taught in school where physical education is a requirement; because when done incorrectly, stretching and weightlifting in particular have a bigger chance of significantly harming the athlete than if they don’t complete these steps.
For warm-ups and cool-downs after a workout, student athletes know that running a lap or some other form of movement is typically part of the routine. Stretching is done during this post-workout cardio to ensure the muscles are loose while stretching. Cooling your body down slowly and stopping training (including stretching) once the body is completely cool is the best way to ensure the muscles never get torn.
Exercise-enjoyers who weren’t trained in school won’t have access to this information without a personal trainer or extensive research. This is why this information should be taught to as many people as possible. Especially since exercise is part of a healthy diet, proper weightlifting and stretching techniques should be included in mandatory classes so everyone at least knows the risks of doing these important steps incorrectly.
