While most of us as young adults are naturally flexible like children, withstanding most twists, turns, and falls, our pliability gradually decreases as we become adults. With age, our risk for injury dramatically increases, especially in those who are less active. In order to safely engage in physical activities, flexibility is indispensable. Whether you exercise or not, stretching improves range of motion and strengthens muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons, improving overall performance and greatly helping to prevent injury. In order to maintain flexibility and mobility, while preventing lactic acid from building up in the muscle tissue, stretching should be enacted on a daily basis!
There are various stretching exercises designed for pre- and post-workout. Specifically, dynamic or active stretches should be enacted before you begin training or physical activities, and static stretching is best during and after the workout.
Dynamic Stretching
These types of pre-workout stretch’s or exercises include speed induced movements and get the body prepped for the upcoming workload. For beginners or older adults these types of active stretches can be performed as a full workout. The movements in these stretches are only held for a few seconds as they are repeated through a full range of motion. This not only gives you the explosive power you need for an intense resistance workout but greatly helps to reduce the chance of injury. Dynamic stretching improves blood circulation, increases core temperature, wakes up the central nervous system, and heightens body awareness. Now you’re ready to play!
Static Stretching
Similar to dynamic stretching, static stretching improves flexibility by directing joints through a certain range of motion. However, it does not increase your core temperature and actually suppresses the central nervous system, unlike dynamic movements. Static stretching is great for relaxing as well as lengthening your muscles post workout to augment flexibility. These types of stretches are usually passive and can be executed by you or someone else as the body is relaxed. Each position should be held for about 10 to 30 seconds and repeated multiple times.
Maintaining flexibility throughout your life should be on the TOP of your priority list, which can be done through pre- and post-workout stretching. As you age (and more so with less physical movement), muscles get shorter, tight, stiff, and knotted up, resulting in limited range of motion. Ligaments, tendons, and joints are more vulnerable to damage. With aging and limited flexibility, waking up with tight shoulder and back muscles, strained disks, and stiff joints is not at all uncommon. Along with a pH balanced anti-inflammatory diet, stretching is IMPERATIVE for preventing, managing, and reversing arthritis and back pain. As many as 8 out of 10 people experience back pain at some point, and almost 25% of Americans have doctor-diagnosed arthritis, which means far more are living with this painful condition.
Benefits of stretching:
- As we age, muscles often become tighter limiting range of motion in the joints. This lack of flexibility decreases movement capability and fluidity, making muscle strains or other soft tissue injuries more likely. Stretching helps improve flexibility and range of motion.
- Over time, tight, tense muscles can lead to poor posture by shifting the spine and joints out of alignment. Stretching helps to establish and maintain correct posture by lengthening these tight, tense muscles.
- Proper stretching has been proven to help increase blood flow to the muscles and joints. This allows excess acid toxic waste to exit the cell more rapidly, and nutrients to enter cells more efficiently, reducing muscle soreness and helping to reduce recovery from workouts as well as muscle and joint injuries.
- Stretching works to destress the body as well as the mind. Yoga is becoming fairly popular these days. Yoga is a wonderful way to stretch the body, greatly improving flexibility, mobility, and posture, as well as heightening mood, positive outlook, and creating an over all sense of well-being!