Stretching is an important part of any fitness plan. Proper stretching helps you maintain and improve your flexibility, improve balance, relieve muscle tension, relieve stress, and help you recover quickly from your workouts.
Many people fall into the trap of thinking that they don’t need to stretch and that their time would be better spent on the higher calorie-burning phase of their routine.
If this aligns with your thinking, then you either need to add a few minutes to your stretching workout or you need to improve the quality of the “work” portion of your routine so you burn more calories in less time and put the time saved back into your workout. of flexibility.
Another debate that has raged for years is whether to stretch before or after your routine.
I highly recommend stretching before and after your workout. This is where many people get confused. During your warm-up, you don’t want to do static or flexibility stretches, but rather dynamic or active stretches.
When you contract one muscle group while another muscle group stretches, this is known as active stretching.
A good example of active stretching is a straight leg kick before karate. Don’t kick as high as you can, just kick high enough that you feel a stretch in your hamstrings as your hip flexors and quads contract to lift your leg.
A general rule of thumb is always to stretch after your workout, but the type of workout you do will have a direct effect on the type of stretch you should do.
The best time to stretch for flexibility is after at least 10 minutes of cardio or aerobic exercise. Ten minutes of rhythmic movements allow the muscles to warm up to the core and better prepare them for the stretches to come.
You never want to try to stretch for flexibility after weight work. Your post-weight workout routine should include stretching to return your muscles to their resting length.
Here are 10 stretching tips to apply to your workouts:
1. To improve flexibility, mobility, balance and avoid injuries, it is best to stretch before and after your workouts. The trick to being aware of which type of stretching is best for the warm-up and cool-down phases of your exercise routine.
2. When stretching for flexibility, start the stretch easily and hold it at the point of gentle tension in the muscle. After 15 seconds, if the tension has eased, go a little deeper into the stretch. If the tension has not been relieved, release the stretch, relax the muscle, and return to the stretch.
If muscle tension isn’t relieved after holding a stretch for 15 seconds, it’s likely that you went too deep into the stretch to begin with.
3. Unless you’re doing specialized training with a professional trainer, stay away from ballistic stretching. Ballistic stretches involve bouncing in and out of your stretch, which puts the muscle in a very dangerous position that can cause muscle cramps or worse, a muscle strain or sprain.
4. Work slowly and carefully. When stretching for flexibility, you should hold each stretch for about 60 seconds and go a little deeper into the stretch every 15 seconds or so. You must be very aware of how your muscles respond to your stretches. If you feel pain, discomfort, or tightness in the muscle, stop stretching.
5. Stretch all muscle groups to avoid muscle imbalance. Muscle imbalance is one of the main causes of back pain today. Strong, floppy quads and tight, weak hamstrings can play havoc with pelvic tilt and cause lower back pain and discomfort.
When you’re doing your flexibility routine, make sure you’re working all the major muscle groups in your body.
6. Make stretching a regular part of your exercise regimen. If you practice physical activity on a regular basis, try to dedicate one workout a week to training flexibility and joint mobility.
7. Don’t try to force your body to do something it’s not ready for. Attempting to force flexibility will only lead to injury.
8. Learn to listen to your body and rest when you need it.
9. Don’t stretch cold muscles unless you understand the dynamics of doing this type of stretch. It can be done, many people who have suffered injuries have no choice but to stretch cold muscles but it has to be done in a certain way. You never want to try to stretch for flexibility when your muscles are cold.
10. Not all stretching routines need to be based on flexibility. Sometimes you may just need to relax tight and tired muscles or just want to relax.