Why stretching and mobility is important
Stretching and mobility exercise are not exclusive to the gymnast or a dancer, I’m here to tell you everyone should be doing it!
Stretching helps build the flexibility in your muscles and range of motion on your joints. If you don’t regularly stretch your muscles shorten and become tight. Then when you come to doing physical activity they are in a weaker state and are unable to extend properly and that’s when you are at risk of joint pains, strains and muscle damage.
For example, sitting in a chair all day results in tight hamstrings in the back of the thigh. That can make it harder to extend your leg or straighten your knee all the way, which may inhibit walking and certainly wont prepare you for a bout of strenuous exercise. Movements that suddenly involve the muscle being stretched can then lead to joint injuries.
If you regularly stretch it keeps the muscles long and flexible and healthy muscles also aid better balance.
Greater mobility is important to achieve as when you age your muscles will shorten and tighten, keeping active with a good range of motion is one way to keep the effects of aging at bay.
Where to start
With all the muscles you have in your body and having to do it regular may seem a bit overwhelming at first. But you don’t necessarily have to stretch every muscle you have. I recommend you start with the muscles and joints critical for mobility such as:
Lower body - Your Calves, Hamstrings, Hip Flexors and Quadriceps
I also recommend stretching your shoulders, neck and lower back as these could have an effect on your posture which could affect your spine.
Try and stretch in these areas and see how you feel! At the end of this blog, I will provide you with a list of different stretches you can do for these different areas.
We use to believe that stretching as a warm up or before your physical activity could have benefits, but research has shown that it can actually damage your muscles. "When everything is cold, the fibers aren't prepared and may be damaged. If you exercise first, you'll get blood flow to the area, and that makes the tissue more pliable and amenable to change," says David Nolan, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. It warms up your muscles properly, you just need to do is light activity for 5 – 10 minutes and then stretching after you workout will help relax your muscles.
Hold a stretch for 30 seconds. Don't bounce, which can cause injury. You'll feel tension during a stretch, but you should not feel pain.
Different methods
There are many different types of stretching here are just a couple of common ones.
Dynamic stretching consist of movements with a progressive range of motion each time. For example this could be 10 leg swings on each leg. A kickboxer or Taekwondo fighter might end up doing them at head-height after this. The muscles gradually lengthen over a series of movements.
Dynamics mimic the exercise you’re about to do, so they get a lot of use within sport. You can adapt this in the gym by doing your first set of each exercise with JUST the bar, or the lightest weight you can find. This will keep the muscles nice and toasty, preventing muscular injury.
Static stretching is a stretch that is held for up to 30 seconds at the point of getting tight, then you release a stretch after a short break, return to the next ‘set’, stretching slightly further.
More recent research has suggested that those who want to improve the flexibility of their muscles should only stretch to 30% of their maximum range, holding this for 1 minute, with a minutes rest between stretches and repeat this for 3 sets. The down side to this is it take a long long time to stretch one muscle group!