by Andrew Negru | Aug 8, 2017 | Health
Let me give you the backstory in 2009 somehow I ended up pulling or injuring I don’t even know my sciatic nerve. It was probably one of the worst pains I have had in my life. I could not move, I couldn’t get out of bed even just laying down hurt. So that’s when I started stretching. During this period in my life I had really got into fitness and was working two times a day doing about two hours of cardio and then two hours of weights. I had just graduated college and I did not have a job and so the only thing that could get my mind off of boredom was working out. I spent my time at the gym in the morning and at the gym in the evening. It was until December of 2009 after an entire year of intense training that I pulled my sciatic nerve. It was then that I realized the importance of stretching.
You change your brakes because you can, you change your oil because you can. You can not change your heart. You can not change your body. So why do we not take care of our bodies and take care of things we can replace?
A.N.
There are some major benefits of stretching and here are just a few.
Reduced muscle tension
Increased range of motion in the joints
Enhanced muscular coordination
Increase circulation the blood to various parts of the body
Increase energy levels which increases circulation
You don’t have to take my word on it all you need to do is get on to Google and just search the benefits of stretching. One of the first benefits that I saw was it just gave me optimism I was ready to conquer the world. If you get into working out or training on a daily basis you’ll notice that your body starts to ache and feel pains and just not work properly as it did before especially when you start aging. The stresses of normal day life can burden you. I also found that stretching just made me lose all of my tension. As a middle school teacher things can get pretty hectic throughout the day. I found that stretching through the midday would just give me like a pick me up. When I was feeling lethargic my muscles were tight and by stretching them and loosening up my muscles and it made me fight that midday fatigue.
One of the most important things that research and found out was that stretching help with better blood circulation. It reduced my post-exercise soreness and my recovery time. It also gave me an improvement on my overall health. Stretching also made me more flexible. The older I got the more I noticed that I make noises when I bend over. By stretching it lowered the likelihood that I would get injuries during exercise or sports activities. I also noticed that my posture improved. The tight muscles that I had started to get back into their intended positions. The most important muscles to keep loose were my back and my torso. It helps to keep your spine in alignment but also to stop and relieve back aches and possibly back pain.
Here are some of the things that I did when I started stretching:
First and foremost it is important that you warm up first. Do not start stretching when your muscles are cool or you can pull a muscle. You can start by walking for a little bit or pumping your arms just do something with low intensity for about a few.
Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds. It’s very important to lengthen the tissues in your muscle safely. If your muscles are really tight then hold it for 60 seconds. It might seem like a very long time but it is well worth the time.
Do not bounce. Bouncing when you stretch can cause small micro tears in your muscle it could also leave some Scar Tissue when the muscle heals. Scar Tissue actually Titans your muscle even more and makes you less flexible.
Stretch with no pain. When you stretch you should not feel pain. Tightness is okay but if you are feeling pain then you are holding the stretch too far.
Breathe Just Breathe. I noticed when I started stretching that I would hold my breath but make sure you are breathing in and breathing out correctly.
Stretch Evenly. Make sure that you are stretching evenly not just certain parts of your body that are tight. Do you want to make sure that your range of motion is as equal on both sides of your body.
Stretch before and after. It is very important to do some stretching before any activity such as working out or playing sports. It is just as important to stretch after these activities so that your soreness and Recovery is faster.
Here are some of the best stretches that you can do.
Lower back stretches
Morning stretches
Neck stretches
I hope you also get into stretching. Tell me about your routines and hit me up on Facebook. Check out my other Blog on Focus after stretching.