Have you ever done an intense workout, and then forgot to do stretching exercises afterwards? Runners and fitness buffs know the feeling, am I right? Ufffff. If you exercise regularly, you know it's not a good feeling...your muscles get stiff and sometimes sore too, and it's not good. Highly unrecommended. While some workouts require more cool down time than others, every workout should be followed by stretching exercises in some form. Not sure how long to stretch? What stretching exercises to do? Keep reading for those answers (and more)! Benefits of Stretching First, let's get one thing straight - stretching