When you lift weights (or do any kind of exercise), your muscle contracts.
After your session, your muscle stays contracted for some time.
Part of recovery is the restoration of muscle length. Until then, it hasn't recovered.
So, if we don't stretch the muscle we've just worked, we're slowing recovery and progress.
“The benefits of stretching are enormous. Stretching can increase your strength by 10%. It is a lot.”
Tension and relaxation are two sides of the same coin. A muscle that forgets how to lengthen won't contract as well.
"If the best in the world are stretching their asses off in order to get strong, why aren’t you?"
– Christopher Sommer, Former USA Men's Gymnastics Coach
🤸 So spending a couple of minutes stretching after training is gonna help you recover faster.