Introduction

• Stretching is often seen as the unnecessary thing we should be doing before the gym or exercise, but never seem to have the time to do. This is the wrong automatic or starting position, I want to highlight the significant benefits that stretching regularly can have and share the 10 best stretches you should be doing 3 times a week to realise these benefits.
• I really got into the science and benefits of stretching after a lower back injury, I wish I’d known what I do now and was stretching regularly, I have no doubt that if I had I wouldn’t have sustained my injury in the first place.
• The key benefits of stretching are:
  • Wake up your muscles – Whether it’s from a big exercise session, a long night’s sleep or long day at work behind a screen, our muscles are often tight and lethargic. Stretching is a way of waking them up and in the process waking you up, giving you more energy.
  • Relieve tension – Both physically and mentally, there is a lot of evidence to show that stretching helps clear the mind as well as the muscles, just think about yoga. Stretching can be a form of meditation, to keep you calm, feel happier and sleeping better.
  • Injury prevention – This works in two different but related ways. Firstly, stretching before exercise reduces the risk of injury, by warming up your muscles to abnormal movements, not the usual walking, sitting or lying your body does 95% of the time. Secondly, regular stretching – not just before exercise – can help lengthen the muscles permanently. The stronger and longer your muscles, the less likely you are to be forced into a movement while exercising that is outside your range of motion. Most injuries are obtained when a muscle or tendon is moved in outside its normal range of motion, extending the natural range of motion will reduce the risk of injury.
  • Increase circulation – Stretching your muscles allows more blood to flow to them, increasing your blood circulation and helping the body recover faster by more quickly removing waste by-products in muscle tissue.
  • Proven empirical science – There is a lot of empirical evidence to back up the benefits of stretching detailed above. Here is a great piece of research which highlights this.
• Human beings were not designed to be sat behind a desk for 8hrs a day, therefore a lot damage can be done to the body by this. Regularly doing the stretches detailed below will go a long way to reversing that damage and preventing more damage in the future.
• You’ll notice that below I haven’t referred to number of reps, that is because I don’t believe there should be a fixed number, instead when doing each of the stretches below hold them for a series of very deep breaths. Not only is deep breathing a signal for your muscles to relax, it will also get you really focused on the stretch and you’ll naturally feel when you’ve reached the optimal point.
• Lastly, before I get into the stretches, I should highlight that these stretches purposely don’t require any special equipment, apart from the counter weight deep squat, so they can be done just about anywhere, meaning they can fit into even the busiest schedule.

 

All Body Exercises

• I’ve broken down the 10 stretches into 3 broad categories, and will start with three excellent ‘all body’ stretches, these will really help prepare your whole body for the rest of the series.
• Downward Dog
  • Muscles stretched: A favourite in yoga classes around the world, this pose stretches your hamstrings, lats (back) and deltoids (shoulders) and well as improving hip and shoulder mobility.
  • How to perform it: Get into a plank position with your shoulders directly over your wrists, and arms straight. From here push your hips up towards the roof, forming a triangle shape with your body. Ensure you keep your head between your arms and straighten your legs as much as possible. Once in position work to get your heels on the ground and spread your fingers, this’ll ensure your bodyweight gets evenly distributed.

• Fold over Stretch
  • Muscles stretched: Another stretch which gets multiple muscles engaged, this works your neck, back, glutes, hamstrings and calves.
  • How to perform it: Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms at your sides. Slowly bend forward from the hips, exhaling as you do, lowering you head towards the floor. Whilst you do this ensure your head, neck and shoulders are relaxed. If possible wrap your arms around your legs, if you’re not able to do this trying bending your knees slightly. Ensure you roll up slowly once you’ve finished the stretch.

• Counterweight Deep Squat
  • Muscles stretched: Amazing exercise to cover pretty much every large muscle group, the only down side is you do need a small amount of equipment to complete this one.
  • How to perform it: Place a foam roller between your thighs and grab two light dumbbells – the lightest weight that will allow you to achieve the final position – and hold them out straight in front of you at shoulder height. Push your knees forward and then squat until your butt is just above the floor, when in position try rounding your spine by tucking your pelvis. Slowly push back up, returning to your standing position.

 

Upper Body Exercises

• Crescent Pose
  • Muscles stretched: Another yoga specialty, which focuses on stretching and strengthening your abs, chest and hip flexors.
  • How to do it: Start with one foot in front of you and the other behind, now bend the knee of your front leg creating a 90-degree angle.  Once stable lift your arms up in the air and keep them by your ears, palms facing inward and lift your chest up, slightly arching your back as you press your back hip forward. If possible, lower your lunge as you exhale.

• Childs’ Pose
  • Muscles stretched: Perfect for stretching out your lower back, lats and shoulders.
  • How to do it: Kneel on a mat, touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, ensure your knees are hip width apart. Next lay your torso down between your thighs and place your hands outs in front of you on the floor, this should also allow you to release the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor.

• Cat
  • Muscles stretched: Core muscles as well as increasing blood flow and mobility in your spine.
  • How to do it: Get on your hands and knees on an exercise mat, ensure your knees, wrists and shoulders are all in line with your hips. Slowly round your back, tuck up your pelvis and look to the floor. In a controlled manor move between those two positions and feel it across your stomach and back.

• Shoulder Stretch
  • Muscles stretched: This improves flexibility and mobility in the shoulders.
  • How to do it: Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart, raise your left arm to shoulder height, and move it across the front of your body. With your right arm pull the left as close to the chest as possible and hold. Switch arms and repeat.

 

Lower Body

• Runner’s Stretch
  • Muscles stretched: Named as it’s focused on the two areas which usually give runners the most pain, the hips and knees, the link being the hamstring.
  • How to do it: Sit down with your feet out. Bring one foot up, so it’s resting alongside the top of the other thigh. Now lean forward with the arm of your leg which remains straight and try touching your toes. If you can’t reach your toe keep leaning forward until you feel your hamstring stretching.

• Hip Flexor/Quad Stretch
  • Muscles stretched: Three critical muscles are targeted with this stretch; hamstrings, quads and hip flexors.
  • How to do it: Kneel on the floor with both knees bent, the shins of both legs on the floor. Now bring your right leg in front of you and lunge your right leg forward, so right knee is bent 90 degrees in front of you, ensure your right foot is flat on floor directly under your knee, and left leg is still bent underneath you. Place one hand on top of right knee and press your hip forward, leaning into stretch, keep torso upright. Next pull up your left foot with your other hand, and feel your quad stretch. Swap legs and repeat.

• Butterfly Stretch
  • Muscles stretched: This stretches your thighs and improves hip movement.
  • How to do it: Sit down with your back straight, then take both feet and align your heels and feet so that they’re touching, then gently press down on your thighs with your elbows until you feel your groin area being stretched out.

 

Conclusion

• The scientific benefits of stretching are very clear with a huge amount of empirical evidence to back them up, yet stretching is often quickly over-looked by those who do regular exercise, too often forgotten about or dis-regarded as not needed.
• It doesn’t matter what exercise you do, be it a team sport, going to the gym to lift, or looking to lose weight, stretching will help you achieve your goal faster, more effectively and with a lower likelihood of injury.
• Moreover, the exercises detailed above can be done within 20minutes and you only need to do these 3 times a week to see massive benefits. Who doesn’t have 20mins 3 times a week to do these whilst watching TV?
• If you are looking for more articles relating to fitness and well-being you can find all of mine here: http://jablifestyle.net/category/fitness-gym/

 

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