7 Things You Should Never Do Before A Workout

Ballistic stretching can be identified by its bouncy, jerky movements. Not to be confused with dynamic stretching, ballistic stretching can actually harm your muscles. Especially when you have yet to complete a proper warmup, the bouncing is generally bad for your muscles. When you stretch slowly and gently, your muscle fibers can relax and soften into whatever shape you are in. Ballistic stretching movements cause your muscle fibers to lengthen and then contract repeatedly in quick succession, which doesn't typically lead to flexibility gains (via Healthline). Furthermore, the force produced to perform ballistic stretching can override the body's natural defense mechanism. This muscular mechanism exists solely to prevent overstretching, so it is definitely a signal to listen to.