Stretch It Out

1 in 100 people stretch after a workout. Are you a part of this alarming statistic? I REALLY hope not because stretching is such a vital part of exercise.

Stretching does the following for your body:

♥ Allows the athlete to achieve their best performance.


♥ Extends that performance for years by avoiding the consequences of long-term muscle strain.

♥ Enhanced ability to learn and perform skilled movements.

♥ Reduced muscular soreness & muscle tension.

♥ Reduced severity of painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea) in females.

Important Note: Stretching is NOT warming up! Warming up should be done before your workout & before you stretch. The goals of warming up according to Kurz is: "an increased awareness, improved coordination, improved elasticity and contractibility of muscles, and a greater efficiency of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems."

When you are stretching, remember to BREATHE! It sounds ridiculous but it's true! Proper breathing control is important for a successful stretch. Proper breathing helps to relax the body, increases blood flow throughout the body, and helps to mechanically remove lactic acid and other by-products of exercise.

ALL WARMED UP & READY TO STRETCH? ---

The best time to stretch is when your muscles are warmed up. If they are not already warm before you wish to stretch, then you need to warm them up yourself, usually by performing some type of brief aerobic activity.

Important Note: If the weather is very cold, or if you are feeling very stiff, then you need to take extra care to warm-up before you stretch in order to reduce the risk of injuring yourself.

Ideally, a particular stretch should work only the muscles you are trying to stretch. Isolating the muscles worked by a given stretch means that you do not have to worry about having to overcome the resistance offered by more than one group of muscles. In general, the fewer muscles you try to stretch at once, the better. For example, you are better off trying to stretch one hamstring at a time than both hamstrings at once. By isolating the muscle you are stretching, you experience resistance from fewer muscle groups, which gives you greater control over the stretch and allows you to more easily change its intensity. As it turns out, the splits is not one of the best stretching exercises. Not only does it stretch several different muscle groups all at once, it also stretches them in both legs at once.

PLEASE don't forget to stretch next time you workout, it's a super important exercise tool that only takes ten to fifteen minutes to complete. Use this time to unwind and concentrate on YOU. It's time to be selfish.