My routine would be something such as :
Leg days - Recumbant bike for 10 minutes slow-med speed and gradually building resistance. At that point the cardiovascular system is awake and ready to go. Muscles are noticably full of blood. Muscles are also warm. Especially legs. At which point I do stretch them. I do this mostly to stretch out my hams and my groin area. If I get into squats or heavy leg press without stretching those areas out they cramp or sometimes charlie horse on me. So for me its a must. I have to keep them stretched out throughout too.
Upper body days - Since I have had tendon issues at the tri/elbow area and still have rotator issues I do 10 minutes of brisk walking on the treadmill at a 2 degree incline to get the cardiovascular system woken up and the mucsles full of blood.
At that point I don't really stretch. I will grab a 5 lb plate in each hand and do arm circles big ones and smaller tight ones (controlled not flailing around) to warm up the shoulders and rotators. I'll do some overhead extensions with these same plates til I feel a slight burn in the tri. Again to hit the elbow area. I might free hang from the chin bar for a few seconds to get the spine straight. But no actual stretching per say.
Then on a chest day i'll do 2 light 25 rep sets on the pec dec and 3 light DB press sets to make sure everything is good and warm and pumped before hitting work sets. After the first heavy work set I stretch. The again in between and after each work set.
Leg days - Recumbant bike for 10 minutes slow-med speed and gradually building resistance. At that point the cardiovascular system is awake and ready to go. Muscles are noticably full of blood. Muscles are also warm. Especially legs. At which point I do stretch them. I do this mostly to stretch out my hams and my groin area. If I get into squats or heavy leg press without stretching those areas out they cramp or sometimes charlie horse on me. So for me its a must. I have to keep them stretched out throughout too.
Upper body days - Since I have had tendon issues at the tri/elbow area and still have rotator issues I do 10 minutes of brisk walking on the treadmill at a 2 degree incline to get the cardiovascular system woken up and the mucsles full of blood.
At that point I don't really stretch. I will grab a 5 lb plate in each hand and do arm circles big ones and smaller tight ones (controlled not flailing around) to warm up the shoulders and rotators. I'll do some overhead extensions with these same plates til I feel a slight burn in the tri. Again to hit the elbow area. I might free hang from the chin bar for a few seconds to get the spine straight. But no actual stretching per say.
Then on a chest day i'll do 2 light 25 rep sets on the pec dec and 3 light DB press sets to make sure everything is good and warm and pumped before hitting work sets. After the first heavy work set I stretch. The again in between and after each work set.