Stretching is immensely popular for new gym comers as they often believe stretching is only
beneficial. This bibliography shows multiple perceptive whether stretching is beneficial or not
before or after a workout. Sources were chosen for their reliability or for their popularity in the
fitness industry.
Michael Matthew, “The Science of Stretching: Stretching and Strength, Speed, and Muscle
Growth”, Legion Athletics, https://legionathletics.com/stretching-before-aerobic-exercise-orweightlifting-yes-or-no/
Michael Matthew, the CEO of Legion, explains why static stretching is useless to do before
working out as it has no beneficial factors. He also states that dynamic stretching is the correct
type of stretching to do before a workout to have benefits from stretching. He explains these two
distinct types of stretching to explain to the reader that only one is beneficial to a workout and
the other is useless. From this article we can assume that stretching does have benefits if done
before a workout, but it must be done with the correct type. Matthew attempted to use ethos to
emphasize his claim that stretching can affect your workout. He does this by not only submitting
his article to his own supplement website, but also having his article fact checked by a physical
therapist. Matthew also uses logos a ton in his article by citing many studies in his claims for
example he uses a paper published CDC to support his claim that stretching does not decrease
the risk of injury (Matthew, par.2). Matthew’s article in comparison to the other sources is highly
credible, unlike the rest of the articles his claims are fact checked by a physical therapist.
Rich Barlow, “Stretch Before Exercise? Not So Fast.”, Boston University,
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2015/stretch-before-exercise-not-so-
fast/#:~:text=Recent%20studies%20caution%20people%20away,against%20injury%20during%
20their%20exercise
Barlow, a senior writer at BU, wrote an article to advise people to think twice before stretching
before exercising. This article explains that warming up with stretching is encouraged, though
the stretching should be dynamic stretching. Barlow attempts to use logos to support his claim
that stretching is beneficial if done correctly. He uses recent studies done to, for example,
“Recent studies caution people away from stretching before workouts, suggesting it actually
impedes your body’s performance.” (Barlow, 2). This article in comparison to the article
published by Michael Matthew are alike, they both were published in credible sites though
Barlow would have benefited from having his article fact checked similar to Mathhew’s article.
Barlow provides no credibility in his experience unlike Matthew provides as Barlow provides no
evidence of him having fitness experience.
Harvard, “The importance of stretching”, HealthHarvardedu
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-ofstretching#:~:text=Stretching%20keeps%20the%20muscles%20flexible,to%20extend%20all%2
0the%20way
The article goes in-depth about why stretching is important to our bodies. Examples of how daily
life is affected due to the negligence of stretching. How one should begin a daily stretch is
explained and they as well recommend one to see a physical therapist for a well-developed
stretching program. Harvard aids the article as Harvard is often looked upon as a prestigious
university and allows the article to be more credible than if it were published elsewhere. Ethos is
seen in the introduction of the article as they strengthen their claim by writing a quote by a
physical therapist (Harvard, par.1). This article, in comparison to the other articles apart from
Barlow’s, provides instant credibility seeing where the article was published.
Pablo, “Benefits of Stretching after Workouts”, disc-me, https://www.disc-me.com/benefits-ofstretching-afterworkouts/#:~:text=Stretching%20tired%20and%20sore%20muscles,as%20strength%20and%20
cardiovascular%20training
This article highly recommends the daily practice of stretching after a workout. The author gives
nine different benefits and thoroughly explains them. Pablos's claim was stated from the
beginning and proceeds to give the reader a list of reasons why stretching is beneficial. He states
that stretching can help you both with physiological and psychological effects (Pablo, 2). Due to
his claim being clear with a list of evidence his article becomes more persuasive. In comparison
to the article written by Livingston, the article provides a clear list of how stretching is beneficial
while Livingston provides a bit of benefits but does not thoroughly explain the benefits.
Mercey Livingston, “Let’s Settle the Debate Once and For All: Should You Stretch Before a
Workout?”, wellandgood, https://www.wellandgood.com/stretch-before-after-workout/
Livington describes the benefits that stretching can give to someone. The article also explains
what type of stretches the readers should do before and after a workout. After explaining the
stretching and how long it should be executed, the author gives some stretches the reader should
consider doing. Livingston clearly defines the problems of stretching before a workout. She
states that stretching incorrectly can result in tearing a muscle (Livington, 3). The author
successfully uses pathos by giving a scary example that can occur if stretching is improperly
done. Unlike the other articles Livingston gives a realistic example of what may occur if
stretching is done incorrectly, while the other articles do not go in-depth when they state
stretching can be dangerous.
Maurice Harden, “DYNAMIC STRETCHES YOU SHOULD DO DAILY”,
dynamicmedicalfitness, https://dynamicmedicalfitness.com/blog/dynamic-stretches-you-shoulddo-daily
This article thoroughly explains what dynamic stretching is. Also goes over the benefits dynamic
stretching has if done before an exercise. As well they provide examples of dynamic stretches
you can do. The author uses both ethos and pathos to strengthen their claims. For ethos the
author writes in the introduction that he himself is a personal trainer at Dynamic Fitness, a gym
company (Harden, par.1). For pathos the author assures the readers he wants them to avoid injury
and stay healthy, then proceeds to provide a phone number for needed help (Harden, par.4). This
article, in comparison to the other articles, connected better to the reader as they provided the
reader with extra resources they could reach out to if they wanted to learn more.