Bevan Viljoen, a personal trainer at LA Fitness Piccadilly, replies: Firstly, stretching should never be viewed as a contest with others, but rather an individual activity, but increasing flexibility can only ever be a good thing.
It's very important to stretch before exercising and leave it no more than ten minutes after a workout before you stretch, as not only will this help prevent injury, it will also increase flexibility.
All flexibility exercises should be held for at least 30-60 seconds and should be slow, deliberate movements to the point of maximum stretch (never pain) of the muscle. For best results, each stretch should be repeated three to five times.