We can all be a little guilty of skipping out on our post workout stretch because we are exhausted or in a rush to be somewhere else. Whether you’re a regular trainer or not, stretching is just as important as exercise. Stretching plays a major role in maintaining good flexibility and mobility. This allows us to perform our day to day activities; including our training, with more ease and enthusiasm. Forgetting to stretch or even just not bothering can leave you with limited range of motion, poor blood flow and less than desirable posture. The benefits of stretching are endless. Here are my top 5 reasons for why you need to make stretching a part of your regular routine.
1. Decreased Stress
Stretching can be rewarding both physically and mentally. Pressures from our daily activities can cause a build-up of tension within our bodies. This can cause tightness without us even realising, impacting on our ability to function efficiently. Taking 10-15min out of your day when you’re feeling the pinch can alleviate stress by calming your mind and providing a mental break. This will boost energy allowing you to jump back into action for the rest of your day. Fortunately, stretching can be done almost anywhere giving us an opportunity to stretch out whenever we feel the need.
2. Enhanced Range of Motion
Having tight muscles can impact our ability to move freely like we should and hinders us from making the expected progressions with our training. Muscles that are used for exercise and then not stretch out can remain in a shortened state limiting the range of motion in our major joints. This can cause discomfort if not corrected. Stretching combined with other self-care strategies such as foam rolling and massage will loosen your muscles allowing you to move through a full range of motion without any stiffness.
3. Injury Risk Prevention
There is conflicting evidence to prove that stretching definitely reduces your chance of injury. However, if selected correctly your warm up stretches will prepare your body for the movements to come better enabling it to cope with the stress and load of your training. I’m sure most regular trainers and health professionals would agree with me. It’s really not hard to imagine how stretching both before and after your workout can limit the chance of getting an injury. Having tight muscles puts an added strain on our joints, ligaments and tendons. This increases the likelihood of a rupture, strain or sprain especially if you are performing explosive high impact movements. Starting with some dynamic stretches prior to your workout will increase your core body temperature and functionality allowing your muscles to stretch to the desired limit for each exercise. Static stretches post workout will return your muscles to a relaxed state, keeping you mobile for your next workout.
4. Reduce Pain and Stiffness
Regardless of if your day includes sitting in front of a computer screen, smashing out a heavy session or a bit of both, you may experience a build-up of tension and stiffness. If you don’t take time to stretch out this can cause pain. This pain can be debilitating and put you out of action from work, training and life in general. Stretching will alleviate this discomfort and have you back functioning at an optimal level. If you do a lot of sitting for work, it can be helpful to pay a little more attention to stretching your glutes, hamstrings, lower back, neck and shoulders.
5. Improve General Health and Wellbeing
Whilst stretching can improve your athletic performance I think it’s important to remember that over all else it can improve your overall health and wellbeing. Stretching stimulates blood flow transporting oxygen to the brain giving you a clearer outlook on life. It also increases circulation of blood to your muscles and other vital organs. Better blood flow ensures your muscle receive the nutrients they need to keep your body moving. Taking part in stretching classes like yoga and Tai Chi can moderate blood pressure and decrease you resting hart rate. Personally I think the most important benefit is the impact that stretching can have on improving good posture. It has become extremely common for people to have slouched shoulders and poor spinal position as a result of regular computer and device use. Stretching can lessen the impact that these poor habits have on the body.
There are many forms of stretching. These include static, dynamic and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching just to name a few. These are all effective forms of stretching that will help to keep us limber. Studies have shown that prior to training it is ideal to warm up with movements that mimic the activities that we will be performing i.e. dynamic stretches. Post workout the body is already warm which will allow us to hold our stretches for a period of 30-40sec to aid in the lengthening out of our muscles i.e. static stretches. Stretching should not be painful, stretch until you feel the first sensation of resistance hold this position while you take deep controlled breaths. This will allow you to progress deeper into the stretch. Adding stretching to your routine will improve your physical and mental wellbeing as well as functionality. Remember stretching is just as important as your training and it will help us to continue to train well into our later years. This means we need to plan for it just like we plan for our training sessions.
xx Tara
Do you stretch post or pre workout? Let me know in the comments section below. Join our PAC and book in a time to see the gym and chat about your health and fitness goals.
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