Personal Training For Professionals Who Want To Lose Fat And Get Healthy

SHOULD I STRETCH

kitchener personal trainer

By Noelle Walker at New Fitness

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should i stretch

Well this is a loaded question isn’t it? Lots of people don’t stretch. Or they don’t consider stretching as part of their program until it’s almost too late. Ya know, When they are “older”.

STRETCH ALWAYS

I’m here to be in your face and say yes stretch always, every SINGLE time you workout you need to stretch. Whether you are going for a simple run or hitting the weights at the gym, you need to stretch.

Yoga: I want to preface this by saying if you are doing yoga you don’t need to stretch but I would think you are smart enough to know that already.

WHY DO I NEED TO STRETCH

Stretching needs to be done whether you are twenty years old or fifty years old. It needs to be done. It needs to be done before your workout and after your workout. Ugh, yes I know. I realize it’s kinda boring and you have better things to do, It’s a waste of time right? Wrong! It’s essential, mandatory and absolutely needs to be done!

What happens if you don’t stretch? You get stiff  that’s what, Your range of motion is diminished and you are more likely to injure yourself. No joke. You might hurt yourself. Why? Because your joints aren’t loose, They are tight and so when you go to do a movement, any movement you will not be able to move through that movement smoothly and you will twist something, or sprain something.

When you stretch your joints are lubricated(lube gotta love it lol) and that lube called synovial fluid allows you to effortlessly move through joint movements like squats, running, bicep curls, anything!

 
 
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
So what kind of stretching? Can I do any kind of stretching, just whatever for a couple of mins?
No! Are you kidding me? Ok no, you need to spend some time on stretching. Before your workout do some dynamic stretching and mobility exercises for a good 15-20 mins. Yes you have time, You need to make the time. Only focus on the joints you will be utilizing though. So for squats as an example you do hip, lower back, knee, shoulder and adductor(inner thigh) and abductor(outer thigh) mobility and stretching. This is not the kind of stretching where you hold each movement for 30-60 seconds, That is called static stretching and is done at the very end of your workout. Pre-workout stretching is quick stretching designed to lubricate joints only and get you prepared for your workout. Holding for two to maybe three seconds is good enough for  dynamic stretching or none at all. Do this every time!

STATIC STRETCHING

For at the end of your workout stretching do your static stretching. Hold each movement for thirty seconds to however long you think you need to stretch, normally sixty seconds. Just make sure you are not over stretching. What I mean by that is don’t go beyond the range of motion so much so that it hurts, stretching should never hurt. Do this every time you workout as well. Think about the exercises you did and what muscles you used and stretch those only. No need to stretch your arms when you you did dumbell lunges. You will need to be cognizant  of what workout you did and what muscle groups you used.

Did I mention you need to stretch every time you workout? Good. You got the gist of what I’m saying. Happy stretching. Trust me, you’ll thank me later!

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