Tweet
Stretching Your Way to Health
By Natasha Vani, MSc., ATCP
Equally as important as proper nutrition, strength and endurance, flexibility is a key component to optimal physical health. Although it is often neglected, lack of flexibility is a main culprit for low back problems, injuries as well as tense and sore muscles. Each time your bend down to pick up the morning paper or get into the back seat of a two-door car, your flexibility is tested.
In the aging population tight muscles and joints make daily tasks difficult, even those as simple as getting out of bed in the morning. Tight muscles predispose athletes to unnecessary muscle strains and joint sprains, and tight muscles in the typical adult with a sit-down office job contribute not only to lower back pain, but also to headaches, neck pain and fatigue.
Adding a simple stretch to your regular routine or improving your flexibility with an at-home program may contribute to the following:
Reduced muscle tension
A decrease in musculoskeletal injuries associated with sport, daily living and home activity
Improved posture
Protection from falls and awkward movements of daily living
A decrease in fatigue
Improved coordination
With stretching, tissue temperature increases, increasing circulation and the transportation of various nutrients as well as the removal of various waste products
Daily activities are performed with greater ease
Improved performance as a result of the greater elasticity of the surrounding tissues
With these benefits in mind, use the following tips to design the perfect stretching program for you.
Tips for flexibility training
Before beginning a stretching session it is important to warm up. If the tissues of the body are not warm or extensible, it is impossible to stretch the muscles to their full range of motion.
A stretching session should involve at least one stretch for each major muscle group and should include opposing muscles. (Opposing muscles are those such as the hamstrings and quadriceps, or the biceps and triceps.) Including both of the opposing muscles prevents many injuries associated with imbalances in muscle tension.
A flexibility program must be performed a minimum of three days per week. For best results you should stretch daily.
Repeat each stretch three to five times and hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds.
It is extremely important to breathe throughout the stretch. Breathe slowly, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Try to lengthen the stretch each time you exhale.
Never stretch to the point of pain. The muscle fibers must be relaxed to be stretched, so bring the muscle only to the end of its range of motion.
Do you find stretching too time consuming?
We always seem to be too busy to dedicate time to stretching—personally, I am the absolute worst for stretching after a run. However, I find that at night in front of the television or with some relaxing music I can actually take time to enjoy stretching. Try it!
By Natasha Vani, MSc., ATCP
Equally as important as proper nutrition, strength and endurance, flexibility is a key component to optimal physical health. Although it is often neglected, lack of flexibility is a main culprit for low back problems, injuries as well as tense and sore muscles. Each time your bend down to pick up the morning paper or get into the back seat of a two-door car, your flexibility is tested.
In the aging population tight muscles and joints make daily tasks difficult, even those as simple as getting out of bed in the morning. Tight muscles predispose athletes to unnecessary muscle strains and joint sprains, and tight muscles in the typical adult with a sit-down office job contribute not only to lower back pain, but also to headaches, neck pain and fatigue.
Adding a simple stretch to your regular routine or improving your flexibility with an at-home program may contribute to the following:
Reduced muscle tension
A decrease in musculoskeletal injuries associated with sport, daily living and home activity
Improved posture
Protection from falls and awkward movements of daily living
A decrease in fatigue
Improved coordination
With stretching, tissue temperature increases, increasing circulation and the transportation of various nutrients as well as the removal of various waste products
Daily activities are performed with greater ease
Improved performance as a result of the greater elasticity of the surrounding tissues
With these benefits in mind, use the following tips to design the perfect stretching program for you.
Tips for flexibility training
Before beginning a stretching session it is important to warm up. If the tissues of the body are not warm or extensible, it is impossible to stretch the muscles to their full range of motion.
A stretching session should involve at least one stretch for each major muscle group and should include opposing muscles. (Opposing muscles are those such as the hamstrings and quadriceps, or the biceps and triceps.) Including both of the opposing muscles prevents many injuries associated with imbalances in muscle tension.
A flexibility program must be performed a minimum of three days per week. For best results you should stretch daily.
Repeat each stretch three to five times and hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds.
It is extremely important to breathe throughout the stretch. Breathe slowly, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Try to lengthen the stretch each time you exhale.
Never stretch to the point of pain. The muscle fibers must be relaxed to be stretched, so bring the muscle only to the end of its range of motion.
Do you find stretching too time consuming?
We always seem to be too busy to dedicate time to stretching—personally, I am the absolute worst for stretching after a run. However, I find that at night in front of the television or with some relaxing music I can actually take time to enjoy stretching. Try it!