Stronger Faster Better

Stretch people stretch! I can't tell you how many people I know that simply don't stretch. Whether your someone that sits at a desk for eight hours a day, you run six days a week or you carry kids back and forth from soccer to daycare. Stretch whenever you can, it doesn't take a ton of time and believe-you-me, you'll be happier for it.

First thing in the morning, when you're in the shower, go through several gentle slow neck stretches. Bring your chin down to you chest. Then look side to side, then ear to shoulder and then look up. With the hot water of the shower coming down on your neck you'll feel more refreshed and less likely to strain your neck later in the day. That's simple enough right? Can you manage that?

If you're someone that sits at their desk for hours on end, only getting up only to pee or to get more Mt. Dew, try some dynamic stretching on your way to the WC. Kick your knees up nice and tight a couple of times, sing your arms back and forth, shake things out a bit. Suddenly your muscles will wake up and you won't feel quiet so pooped. Maybe get enough blood flow to your limbs and you'll forgo that Mt. Dew altogether!

When you should you stretch? I would say "always" but you would never want to stretch a pulled muscle. But aside from that, stretch anytime you can, every muscle that you can. While stretching takes a little time and in some cases motivation, the benefits are endless. Why do you think that yoga is so popular? It feels great and it is actually a workout!

If your muscles are already warm from a run or a bike ride, or even from spending the last hour shoveling snow off your driveway, take advantage of this for static stretching. These are long slow movements, no jerks or bouncing, hold the stretch for 20 second or so, then move to another muscle. There's no part of your body that won't benefit from this kind of stretching and the more often you incorporate this into your daily life, the more flexible you'll become.

People don't become less flexible with age, they become less mobile and therefore less flexible. As a kid you ran around jumping off of things, twisting and tweaking every which way, you were flexible. But as you got older and your butt started to mold to the shape of a chair throughout high school, college, work, your couch, the muscles stopped getting used and stopped getting stretched.

One of the best ways to stretch is called PNF stretching (or proprioceptive muscular facilitation), this is one of the most effective forms of stretching and can be the most efficient flexibility training for increasing range of motion. Have you ever noticed that pro-athletes, like baseball players, get stretched out by someone else? This is PNF stretching. When someone else can stretch you out, this is of great benefit to you. PNF stretching allows a muscle to be isolated, you put no effort and exert no force on any other part of your body. This particularly effective with hamstring and quads. To learn more about PNF stretching, check out the Sport and Fitness Advisor site.

Your muscles will always benefit from stretching if you take the time to do it right and do the right stretches at the right time. Form and posture are important elements to keep in mind, you don't want to hurt yourself stretching. Its nice to put a little effort into your stretch so that the pull feels good, but remember that a stretch should never be painful. If you feel pain, stop! If you're uncertain of how to stretch, ask someone that you know, talk to a trainer at the gym or geez louise people, check out a yoga class. One of the best yoga classes that I've been to is at 37th & Grand in Minneapolis called TaraNa. The first time I went in I simply told them that I had no idea what I was doing, I was not only treated with the utmost respect, but also was guided through the session, making it a really kick-ass experience!


Fell free to leave a comment about your own stretching techniques or even leave a question. Out of all the fitness hoopla, this is an important one, and one that will make you stronger, faster and better.