Okay, okay, I know this is a pretty dull
subject and one that nobody likes to think
about, but stretching is important. Stretching
on a regular basis enables you to be more
flexible and greatly decreases your chances of
sustaining a muscle / joint injury or developing
low-back pain. If you enjoy exercise, there's
nothing worse than being sidelined with an
injury.
For these reasons alone, it's worth spending
a few minutes stretching on a regular basis.
There are several sites online where you can
find details on specific stretching exercises,
so we won't get into that here (see links
below). However, I would like to discuss two factors
that are very important and often misunderstood.
1. NEVER stretch a cold muscle before exercise.
I like to use the analogy of a rubber band
that's been in the freezer. Your muscle, like
that rubber band, will tend to tear if
stretched when it's cold. However, when they
are warm and supple, they stretch much more
easily and are much less likely to tear.
When you stretch cold muscles, you are much
more likely to cause muscle strains and
other injuries. Always do your stretching
after your aerobic exercise session or after
you have been exercising for at least ten
minutes to give your muscles time to warm
up and become more supple. NEVER stretch
before you exercise. You are much more likely
to injure yourself when you do.
Stretching is not a "warm-up" for your aerobic
exercise. Your warm-up should be a very low
intensity version of the exercise that you're
doing. Then, you stretch your muscles after
they are warm.
2. NEVER "bounce" while stretching. This is
another way to increase your chances of
developing an injury. Your stretching should
be a very slow, fluid movement to gradually
stretch the muscle until you're feeling a
slight stretch. Then, hold it there for about
fifteen seconds and just allow the muscle
to gently stretch. NO bouncy, jerky
movements.
If you stretch on a regular basis, you'll
reverse the natural loss in flexibility
that occurs over time and you'll also
be much less prone to nagging, and sometimes
serious injuries, including low-back injuries.
Here are a few good stretching sites..
http://www.stretchingtips.com/fab.htm
http://www.stretching.com
http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/healthycomputing/streching.html
http://www.golfix.co.uk/wellbeing/fitness/stretch.htm
