Often, when someone thinks of stretching, they think of superstar athletes. Many office workers, or people who sit for long periods, have tight muscles in their legs and hips, which stretching could easily prevent. Tight muscles make you prone to injury and can lead to joint issues. There are many great benefits to stretching. It can also be straightforward and take little time out of your day, which will help you in the long run.
If you are not very active, do not assume that stretching will not help you. As I said, you are more prone to injuries and joint pain (which is not fun!). If you think about it, you could get hurt doing simple household tasks because you are not flexible. Something as simple as putting socks on can be challenging! Stretching right before bed is an easy thing to put into your daily routine. You have spent all day moving around; it is a great way to finish your day. Doing a few stretches, for example, a seated hamstring stretch, a standing quad stretch, and a standing hamstring stretch will help your overall range of motion. Try not to stretch right when you wake up. Your muscles need to be warm when you stretch, not cold. If you stretch right, you wake up, you are running the risk of tearing your muscle fibers, which is counterproductive. Also, always remember not to “bounce” when stretching; this is another way of causing an injury. Here are a few examples of some simple exercises you can do right at home:
Athletes should take stretching very seriously, yet they often don’t. Warm-ups, cool-downs, and stretching in general are crucial to being a good athlete and preventing injury. As important as it is to stretch, it is even more important to know what stretches to do, and when. The two basic forms of stretching are dynamic and static. Static Stretching is what is pictured above. You stretch one specific muscle group for about 10-30 seconds while staying still. On the contrary, Dynamic Stretching is when you do movements designed to warm up specific muscle groups without tearing the muscle fibers. Dynamic Stretching should always be done before working out/exercising. Static stretching should be the final thing you do in your workout. Whether lifting weights or doing an activity, a dynamic warm-up prepares your body for the task. For example, if you are doing a lifting regimen, and it is “leg day,” it would be good to do some lunges for your warm-up. They are a great way to warm your legs up, so when you begin your workout, you are not putting unnecessary stress on your muscles (other than what you would be doing for your workout). Taking time to Static stretch after your workout is just as important. Stretching helps reduce the risk of cramping, reduces the risk of injury, and increases blood flow, which helps prevent soreness.
Many professional athletes openly talk about how much stretching helps in their sport. Kevin Love, Power Forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, speaks highly about how yoga has changed his life. Also, Novak Djokovic, arguably one of the greatest tennis players in history, is known all over the tour for how much time he spends stretching (as pictured below):
Finding the time to stretch is so important in daily life. If you worked out for two hours, what’s 10 more minutes? If you get into the mindset of, “It’s only 10 minutes of my day,” instead of, “I’m not going to waste 10 minutes just to stretch,” you will find an overall increase in your well-being.
