Has anyone ever told you that you HAVE to stretch before performing any exercise? I’m very sure they have. Well in this blog post, we’re here to help you have a deeper understanding on what’s the whole point of stretching and how does it help you.
First of all, there are 2 types of stretching. One being Dynamic Stretches and the other known as Static Stretches.
What are the Benefits of Stretching?
There are a lot of benefits of stretching! Just to name a few,
- Flexibility
- Posture
- Reduced Soreness
- Increase Blood Flow
- Injury Prevention
What Do These 2 Types of Stretches mean?
Dynamic Stretches are controlled movements that ‘warms up’ your muscles, ligaments and tendons before an exercise. Static Stretches are stretches where you stand, sit or lie in a stationary manner and hold a single position for period of time.
Dynamic Stretches
Dynamic Stretches are done mainly before performing an exercise. It involves tightening of muscle groups and brings joints to its full range of motion. This prevents muscle stiffness and raises the body’s core temperature.
Here are a few examples of Dynamic Stretches that you can do before a workout.
(1) Torso Twist
Keep your feet in a forward facing position (approximately shoulder width). Then, twist your body from side to side as depicted in the picture above. What this does is that it increases the mobility of your spine and flexibility. Do not force the movement as it may injure your spine.
(2) Alternate Leg Swing
Stand on one leg, and swing your opposite leg back and forth through the full range of movement. What this does is that it improves your mobility of your hip joint, groin and hamstrings. It also decreases the chances of injury to any of the sites mentioned.
(3) Heel-to-Rear Jog
Stand in an upright position. Now balance on one leg while bringing up the heel of the opposite leg to touch your rear. Repeat this step with the opposite side as well. This warm up stretches your Quadriceps and ligaments of the knee, thus increasing the mobility of your knee joints.
Static Stretches
This group of stretches should be done post exercise, during your cool-down period. With these stretches, you would be able to cut down the incidence of post workout injuries. Multiple studies have been done to know if doing static stretches prior to a workout would increase an athlete’s performance or not. The results were extremely shocking as doing Static Warm-ups prior to exercising / workout will not only decrease the athlete’s performance but also increases the rate of injury! This is because Static Stretches would inhibit a person’s ability to react quickly. Hence, Static Stretches should be done mainly POST WORKOUT!
Here are some of the static workouts that you can try out!
(1) Shoulder Stretches
The shoulder joint is a Ball and Socket joint. What this means is that the movements of this joint is multidirectional. Therefore this needs to be stretched in different directions.
Those stretches are :
(2) Hamstring Stretch
To do this stretch, you first have to sit on the floor with one leg extended forwards. The opposite leg can be kept folded or put in whatever position that you are comfortable with. Now once this is done, then extend your arm forward towards the foot of the extended leg until you feel a stretch and the posterior section of your thigh. What this does is that it stretches your hamstring and helps in recovery post running.
(3) Quadriceps Stretch
Grab the foot / ankle of your leg that you intend the stretch. Ideally, it should be the same side hand with the same side of your foot. Be sure to align your knee with your hip. You should be able to feel a stretch on the anterior aspect of your thigh. This mainly works on the quadriceps group of muscles of your thigh.
These are just some of the examples of Dynamic and Static stretches that you can do!
With all these said, we hope that you currently have a better understanding of the term ‘Stretching’ and how it helps you. Go out there and Create the Best Version Of Yourself!