Mistake #8 - Forgetting to stretch

I sometimes find that after I hike and I put the puppies into the jeep, I jump right in myself and drive home.  I pull in the driveway and step out of and that is when I am reminded that I didn't stretch.  From that short ride home my legs are stiff and tight.  It's very easy to ignore the stretching part, we work out and then immediately start thinking about the rest of our day.  I should have stretched at the trail, and since it was a matter of only few minutes, I got down on the floor and stretched.


When I train clients, stretching is always the last thing they do before they walk out the door.  Some will say oh no, I will do it later, knowing that they won't and later might be too late.  When you don't stretch your muscles after a workout and while they are warmed up, you run the risk of injury.  There are many runners that will stretch before they start and the new information out there is to stretch only after your muscles are warm and pliable.  


If you are a runner and enjoy that good stretch before your long run, then do some dynamic stretching, a walk or a little bit of jogging, just enough to get the blood pumping, then go ahead and stretch.  Imagine you are holding a rubber band and you stretch it out and stretch it out and then it snaps.  Ouch, that is the process you put your muscles, tendons and ligaments through when you stretch them cold.   


Regular stretching restores flexibility which is one of the components of fitness. When you have tight muscles you are more prone to injury. Stretching promotes increased circulation to your legs, arms, hips, and back.  A well balanced exercise regimen will include a warm up, the workout and flexibility.  Make sure you are taking the time to do this so you have don't injure yourself.


Most of our lower back and knee problems can be associated with tight muscles, stretching is as important to our health as any other portion of the workout.  When you stretch, make sure you are working the muscles you actually used in the workout.  So take running for example, stretching out your hamstrings, quads, calves makes sense, but stretching out your core, back and even your arms is just as important too.  Yes you run on your legs, but you also swing your arms and probably even tighten them as you run.  


Remember the little old woman shuffling across the floor or walking ever so slowly across the street, never lifting up her feet?  She does that because she has no flexibility, don't be that little old woman.


If you need help with an exercise routine that is well balanced and created for you, let me know.