One of the most beneficial ways I stay active is by stretching. This may sound like a very boring and non-beneficial way to stay in shape, but you may be missing out on one of the greatest rewards with the smallest amount of work.
During high school, I remember our coaches in track practices and would always stress stretching before AND after running. I used to think this was just a waste of time and thought what mattered most was how hard I ran during training. I continued this mindset when I stopped organized sports and would only stretch a few minutes before jogging or playing basketball. As my body aged and my muscles and joints weren’t able to respond as well, my stretching sessions became longer and longer. It’s to the point that I’m stretching more than exercising. Now, I tell people sarcastically that I used to stretch for five minutes and run for an hour, and now I stretch for an hour and run for five minutes. Although this isn’t the exact time for each, this statement is not far from the truth. I find that stretching helps me loosen up the joints nicely. More importantly, it’s dramatically reduced how many injuries I experience along with my recovery time after a workout.
There’s even more benefits of stretching. As I mentioned in my second post, it’s important to keep the body active. Stretching is one of these options. It stimulates the muscles, joints and circulatory system. Like I said before, if you stimulate the circulatory system, it’s easier for the body to repair itself.
Another nice part is that it can be done sitting down. You can do it when you have extra time in the day or even while you’re watching television. Just sit on the floor and hit some different poses while watching your favorite shows. Sometimes you won’t even realize you’re stretching because you’ll be holding a pose while getting caught up in one of your programs.
Everyone knows some simple stretching poses so feel free to use your favorites. I’ll share more in the future, but the goal is to loosen every muscle in the body.
I start by sitting on the floor in the butterfly pose to stretch the inside leg muscles and hips. I then extend one leg out to touch my toes while the other leg is angled in touching my other knee.
I stay in this pose until my hamstrings and calves have loosened up. Once done, I pull up the leg that’s angled into my chest and put it on the other side of my leg. I then turn my upper body to the left so that my arms are on the outside of my knee. I then twist to the right to stretch the other side. I do this technique to both legs.
I then lay on my back and bring one leg across so that it’s laying on the other side of my body. I then switch legs so that it’s stretching the other side.
Then while I’m still on my back, I’ll lay my legs back on the ground and then pull my legs over my head to stretch my back. I roll from side to side gently to ensure I’m stretching as many back muscles as possible.
Once done, I bring my legs down and roll over on to my stomach. I then push my upper body up to strike a cobra pose to stretch my stomach muscles. You don’t realize it, but this pose also does wonders for the back muscles. I again slightly shift from side to side to make sure I’m getting as many muscles in the stomach and back.
I then lay down on my stomach again and pull my knees under my body to hit an infant pose. This is another nice position to loosen the back muscles. I also like this position because I can completely relax my body and let my body weight to stretch out my back muscles.
That’s all I do! While this probably takes longer to read, you can complete these simple stretches in between 10-20 minutes. I do this routine before each workout and then usually one other time during the week while I’m watching TV. If you’re short on time or not able to run to the gym, try replacing your workout with a stretching session. Do this once a week or once a month. One time is better than none! It doesn’t matter if it’s done for five or thirty minutes, the most important thing is that you’re doing it for a little bit.
If you would like to take your stretching workout to another level, finish your routine with a series of bicycle crunches or planks. Since I’ve been doing this for a while, I do a set before and after my stretching. Once I’m done, I feel refreshed, relaxed and completely gratified that I just got the blood flowing. You’ll probably also sleep better because of it too.
Once I started stretching regularily, I rarely have problems with my back. The best part is that you just got blood flowing to all parts of your body while you were sitting down. The second time you do it will be easier than the first, and the next time after that will be even easier. You’ll also have an extra bounce to your step the next day.