10 Things You Should Know About Stretching

Before fitness training of any kind, it is very important to do warm-up or stretching exercises to prevent accidents or injury, and enhance the benefits you will gain from your exercise session.  There are also a number of precautionary measures and tips that may serve as guidelines when getting ready to work out.

Here are 10 helpful tips:

English: An elderly man performs stretching exercises in gym (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1.  To increase your flexibility and to avoid injuries, stretch before and after a workout.  Almost everyone knows that stretching before workouts prevents injuries during the exercises, but stretching after a workout, when muscles are still warm, can also increase flexibility and reduce soreness.

2.  Hold your stretching position for at least 60 seconds to increase flexibility.  While holding your position for 20 seconds might be enough for warm ups, holding each position for at least 60 seconds will improve the body's flexibility a lot more. Also don't bounce while holding stretches (see next tip).

3.  Do not repeatedly go into a stretching position then immediately return to the relaxed position.  This is more appropriately termed as bouncing. When stretching, hold that position for several seconds (see #2 above), and then slowly relax.  You may do this exercise repeatedly this way.  Bouncing or forcing yourself into a position during stretching can strain or damage some joints or muscles.

4.  Work slowly in increments instead of immediately proceeding to doing the hardest exercise or position.

5.  Make sure that you have stretched or warmed up all muscle groups.  For some people, even if they have strong bodies, they tend to neglect the neck when working out of stretching.  Stretching the neck muscles can be as simple as placing the palm of one's hand against the front of the head and pushing it as far as it will comfortably go.  Then, do the same to the sides and the back of the head.

6.  Stretch regularly to continually increase your range of movements and your level of flexibility and strength.

7.  Work out considering only your capabilities and not of others.  Do not force yourself to do exercises that you are not yet capable of just because there are people who can do it.  Increase your limits slowly.  Listen to your body.  There are days when your body may be too tired and you may have to consider reducing your range of motion. This is fine, and it's better to take it easy for a day or two than to injure yourself.

8.  Learn to rest.  Rest in between sets and stations to make sure that the body has enough time to recover its energy.  Also, it is advisable that you don't work the same muscle groups consecutively for two days.  The muscles actually grow in strength during the period when you rest and not when you are working out.

9.  Do aerobic exercises in intervals to strengthen your heart.  Aerobic exercises are those physical activities that use oxygen for fuel.  This includes cardiovascular exercises such as skipping rope, running or swimming.

10.  Music may help you when you want to train for longer periods or to increase your intensity.  You can use mp3 players, CD players or lightweight am radio receivers for this.  Just make sure that you brought your headset with you if working out in public so you wouldn't disturb people who don't prefer music while exercising.

Apart from preventing injuries and increasing one's flexibility, many people also find that stretching feels good for a tired body and helps relax your mind as well.

Why Should You Warm Up Before Exercising?

It’s tempting to skip the warm up and go straight for the workout, especially when we’re short on time.  It may save time, but it’s not the best plan to stay safe.  While it may seem logical to go as hard as you can for as long as you can, this is not a good way to treat your body. 

Students Warm Up (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A proper warm up helps increase muscle flexibility; meaning you’ll be able to stretch farther and will be less likely to overextend during your regular workout.   Warming up does exactly what it sounds like: it warms up your body.  This increases blood flow, slowly raises your metabolism, and raises the temperature of your muscles.  This makes sure they’re ready and prepared for a hard workout.  When your muscles are ready to go, your performance during the actual workout is improved.  This not only means you can beat out your competition more easily, it also means your body is doing more and functioning more efficiently; giving you the most from your workout. 

The best way to perform a good warm up is to do the activity you’re planning on doing at a lower pace.  For example, if you’re going for a run, run at half speed for 5 minutes, then ¾ speed for another 5 minutes before you get up to full speed.  If you play a sport and can’t “play slowly” for a few minutes, try doing a light workout with another activity.  Jog laps around the soccer field or run drills slowly before a game.  This will at least give your muscles some preparation for the coming activity. 

Chang-Hwa Bank Team do their warm up at 2006 Taipei 101 Run Up to prevent damage and accident. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It used to be that we were told to stretch before each exercising session to keep ourselves more flexible and injury free.  When muscles are more stretched out, you’re less likely to overextend them.  While the theory is correct, we are generally taught to do static stretches, which actually does little good before a workout.  You should try to include dynamic stretches which involve moving and using momentum to stretch without going beyond your normal range of motion.  Normal static stretches, like the kind you do in gym class, are great, but should be done on a daily basis, not just when you work out.

In addition to a warm up, you should also be sure to add a cool down to your workout as well.  Just do the opposite of a warm up and slowly bring yourself back down from extreme activity levels slowly.  Just like a warm up, you can best do this by performing your same activity at a slower pace.  You should also include stretching exercises in your cool down as well.

You may not want to bother with a warm-up because you feel you just don’t have the time to add it into your routine; however, if you work out hard a little less and warm up more, it can actually give you more time to work out in the long run.  A few minutes of warming up are nothing in comparison to the time you may have to skip working out because you’re injured.  A good warm-up is always a good idea, and can keep your exercise program from getting derailed by an injury.