Hello, friends!
Let’s talk about stretching! If you’re a human being who likes to move, this is for you.
It can prepare you for a workout, help to prevent injury, and even assist with recovery. With so many benefits, it’s a no-brainer to include it as part of any exercise regimen, but there are definitely some things you need to know that might go against the traditional wisdom you’ve been hearing all your life!
Most of us have been told at one time or another how important stretching is in order to have a safe and productive workout, and that’s still true - it’s just how to do that in the best way that has changed over time.
Instead of slowing it down and spending minutes holding poses that stretch out our muscles before we sweat, the idea now is that a dynamic stretching protocol before a workout is actually optimal. There’s still a place for the slow, controlled, static stretches too - it’s just after the bulk of your physical work is done :)
So what is dynamic stretching? In contrast to the hold-and-breathe style you might be accustomed to, dynamic stretching is just what it sounds like - dynamic! This means that you will both lengthen and activate different muscles as you move.
This helps to elongate your muscles and engage them, so that they can work optimally and through full range of motion. Basically, it preps your body for what’s about to come - it can improve performance while preventing injury, because you are priming your body for activity through increasing blood flow, body temperature, and activating multiple muscles at once.
Then what’s static stretching good for? Static holds, or stretches without movement, are great for isolating a single muscle group and releasing tension. Especially after performing taxing movements during your workout, static stretching can help to relax your muscles and increase flexibility, which is great for recovery as well.
However, due to the relaxation effect these type of stretches seem to have, they can also decrease your muscles’ ability to produce power - NOT what we usually want before trying to lift weights or run a fast 400m, right?
So in my opinion, the best way to stay healthy, limber, and comfortably injury-free is to utilize BOTH techniques - dynamic stretching before your workout, and static stretching after.
How to decide which exercises and stretches to use? For your warm-up, I would suggest starting with a little bit of low-intensity, general movement to warm up your body and get your blood pumping. Something like jogging, rowing, or even running in place would do just fine :)
Then, consider what movements you’ll be performing that day and what muscles they are intended to target - if you don’t know the answer to these questions, find out! Knowing what your workout is intending to accomplish is absolutely key to getting the most benefit from what you’re doing, not to mention avoiding injury! This is NOT the time to be shooting in the dark, friends!
Work your body from head to toe, using bends, twists, and movements that mimic what you’ll be performing in your workout. Think about gently guiding your body through full range of motion in these movements - be gentle, but move with purpose! This will help you perform better, which means more muscle gains, more fat burn, and a longer, more efficient workout. What’s not to like about that!?
Once you’ve warmed up adequately, say 5-15 minutes worth, go ahead and kick some ass in your workout since your body will be prepped and ready to rage!
After you’re done, take a few minutes to incorporate some dynamic stretching. Really focus on relaxing each muscle and feeling the tension release. Make sure to breathe, and don’t stretch to the point of pain. You should feel a little uncomfortable during a stretch, but it shouldn’t hurt - target the muscles that you used during your workout, and gently move through a series of holds for about 30 seconds to a minute each.
If you feel like just bailing from the gym and running home, try to resist the urge - I’ll be the first to admit that stretching is boring, but it truly can help you recover and avoid the ouchies that can keep you from having a great workout tomorrow. Remember that, and stick around for a couple extra minutes as insurance for the next day!
I always take my clients through a pretty extensive dynamic warm up to get them ready for what we’re gonna hammer during the workout, because nobody likes feeling like shit or getting hurt! I know that dynamic stretching and activation before, as well as some static stretches during cool-down, will give my clients the best chance of a successful workout today and a healthy, mobile tomorrow.
Whether you’re active or not (and I hope you are!), using these techniques can help your body move and function at its finest. I hope this will help you all to try out these techniques, and hopefully find yourself feeling and performing better than ever!
Do you use stretching to help you perform and recover? Need some help with a routine? Let me know!
Please feel free to comment, upvote, or resteem if you found this helpful! :)
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I love stretching so much! It helps calm the mind and relax my body for bed. I like stretching at night, but I find I'm too tired at times to stretch. Need to stay more consistent with it!
That's awesome! So glad you've made it a part of your routine :) I think consistency is the biggest challenge with it - sometimes I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to do it! Keep up the great work and thanks for the comment! :)
Thanks for the wonderful report. Really pleasing writing about fitness. I am a football player and am injured and unfit many times. This is a great way to get right and fit.😉😉😉😉😉
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear you've been injured! I know what you mean though, I've been a competitive athlete my whole life and I've had my share of injuries! Cheers to being healthy from here on out! :) thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed my post!
Hi :) thank you for this interesting article! For me it would be cool if you could also make one about the static stretching after the workout (only if you have the time for it of course!).
Hi @marthastardust! You're so welcome! And I'd be happy to oblige - what specifically were you hoping for in terms of more information about static stretching?
Thank you :) I'm just trying to become more flexible by doing static stretching since a few years already without seeing much improvement :-/ so I thought that maybe you have some professional tips :) but probably you already have many other things in mind what to write or talk about, just in case you were already thinking about it ;)
Great information! Another component some should consider adding after their dynamic stretching is neural activation. It's important that we also prepare our nervous system for the task that we are about to perform.
This can be done easily by performing full speed effort movements at short intervals. Think no longer than 10 seconds. An example can be fast feet or hip rotations. The goal is to activate the Central Nervous System for the demands of the upcoming activity.
Ahhhh, such a great suggestion! This is an awesome idea - especially for athletes! I like to incorporate stuff like this as a post-warm-up-pre-workout section :) thanks so much @ross-early for the thoughtful comment! :)
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Great post! something important in the dynamic streching is the fact, that this have to be in a low intensity, cause the principal idea is the activation, i have seen a lot people that use all their energy in a lot of unnecessary movements and don't make the real rutine at all after the strech