When doing physical exercise, of any kind, it is always very important to do stretching exercises. Do not forget to do them both before and after the exercises.
There are many who try and in fact skip these exercises and in the long run or in a short time, they suffer the consequences… they have injuries, muscle overload, stiff muscles, muscle contractures, etc. That is why it is extremely important to perform stretching exercises.
Instructions
- When practicing any type of sport or physical exercise, the muscles, the tendons… the body in general has worked. To avoid that after physical effort you can get to have a contracture in the muscles, it is extremely important to stretch.
- The exercises called stretching exercises therefore serve not only to make the body more flexible, but also to stretch it well.
- If you are one of those people who always make excuses because it seems to them that stretching before exercising and stretching the muscles after exercising, do not be surprised that the next day you may have discomfort. Any pain that you may feel and they are not stiffness will be nothing other than the reason for not having stretched.
- Practicing stretching exercises therefore serves to avoid muscle contractures, cramps, injuries, and to be flexible and agile.
- It is not silly to try to be as flexible and agile as possible. In fact, by doing so, you will avoid, as far as possible, doing certain exercises that involve a lot of flexibility, being able to move, curve, bend, etc. Without getting injured.
- You will realize that, thanks to stretching, you will also greatly improve your coordination and balance.
- If you also continue with the exercises in a regular and continuous way, the joints will be more flexible, you will injure yourself less or it will be more complicated than with any sport you suffer. The joints are more flexible and therefore do not suffer.
- If you have circulatory problems, they will surely also advise you to perform body stretching. It will help the blood to flow smoothly through the body and consequently, the skin will be smoother, without so much cellulite and with less volume and/or heaviness problems in the extremities.
- To be able to do stretching exercises correctly at a good level, you need a certain amount of time. Little by little they can be done, of course. But knowing how to do them correctly, really… it takes time. It is important to always do them well. Because even if they are stretches, if they are done wrong, it can lead to injury.
- True elongation is not achieved overnight and advances come over time, when we gain flexibility. The important thing is not to force the situation or overstretch a muscle, as the latter can cause pain and injury. It’s normal to feel tension when stretching, but you shouldn’t feel pain.
- Surely, you are wondering which areas of the body you should stretch and which ones can be stretched. Well, really, with almost the whole body. With the legs, the calves, the hamstrings, the gluteus, the belly, the back, the neck, etc.
- For the leg area, stretching should be essential. Think of it as the part of the body that is always working. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid contracture, cramps, pain, stiffness, overload… starting from the area of the legs, the hamstrings and the calves, stretching is also very important. This area is essential if you practice sports. Because the calves and hamstrings work a lot and if you don’t rest enough, stretch and relax your muscles, you end up with injuries.
- An example that usually happens more often than it seems: surely, one day, you have to walk and you are late to catch the bus or somewhere else. You speed up, force yourself and after a while, you notice that the calf area burns you or is “stretching” you and bothering you. The same if you do it climbing slopes or stairs…
- Surely on some occasion after doing a lot of exercise or walking a lot, you notice your calves that hurt, that they are much stretched. In those cases, it is essential to stretch so that you do not injure yourself. How to do stretching for calves? Stand up, what you will have to do is stretch one leg in front of the other and with your feet always parallel, do a small push-up. Watch with the area of the heels (they should not raise from the ground). Hold in this position for about thirty seconds. Switch legs and repeat a couple of times.
- Another of the areas that contract the most is the neck area. With day to day, the bad postures that are acquired, with the obsessions of placing yourself in this or that position because you are more comfortable (but you know that they are not the right ones), straining your neck, being hours doing jobs and/or tasks in which it is necessary to be with a certain posture, etc. All this, at the hours or at the end of the day, gives the result of pain, discomfort, contractures more or less important… to help it happen as little as possible or even avoid it, stretching exercises can be done for the neck area.
- When you spend a long time with the same posture, stand in a straight position. Stretch your neck to the side (trying to touch your shoulder) but without moving your body, just your head. Wait a few seconds… repeat, to the other side. Do this a few times and then do the same, moving your head forward and then back.
- When you start with neck contractures, surely you also have a cervical contracture and if not, surely, you will. It is almost joined, because that area is very forced, being very common, as we said, in some jobs due to poor posture. Be careful, with cervical contractures, for example, apart from discomfort and pain, other ills can also come, such as the desire to vomit, headaches, the sensation of vertigo, etc. If you suspect that you have a cervical contracture, go to the physiotherapist so that a specialist can help you and remove the contracture.
- The elongations for the back area, as important as the cervical and neck (generally, everything goes together), is essential so that the discomfort does not start and turns into pain. An exercise that works very well and also serves to strengthen the back, and hardens the buttocks, is called the bridge. You are placed on your back, lying on the ground. Straight back. Bend both knees, arms stretched out on the ground and raise and lower the gluteal area, making force with the feet on the ground. Without arching your back. If you see that you cannot, leave it immediately. Another simpler option: waist rotations. Stand up, stretch your arms out in front of you and with your body (only moving your waist) go to one side and then to the other.
- Full leg stretches. After an intense exercise (before or before) it is vital to stretch. Let the muscles relax and rest. Something very simple that everyone can do and that helps to stretch the entire leg is the following: stand up. Stretch one leg forward, bend a little and with the help of your hand, reach towards the ball of your foot. The ideal is that you manage to catch the tip of the foot and stretch a little. Hold for a few seconds and repeat with the other leg. Surely, you notice how the muscles stretch.
What do you need
- Your own body.
- Some elasticity or flexibility to be able to stretch well all the muscles of the body.
Tips
By doing them, we will avoid having after or the next day, tremendous stiffness that prevents us from moving, pain in the muscles, in the groin after running or in the twins due to stiffness (among others). If you study or work and spend many hours with a certain posture (back, neck, etc.) it is essential that you take a moment every few hours that will not take up much time, a minute is enough, but stretch those muscles well. Otherwise, you will start to have pain and you will end up suffering from contractures. In fact, the most typical and frequent are cervical, back and neck discomfort.
Whenever you have discomfort and/or pain that do not go away after a couple of days, it is essential to see a doctor or a physiotherapist or masseur. Surely it does not have to be a muscle injury or a tendon (no need to worry) but if there is discomfort, it is because there is something you have not done well. Even if it is because you have spent a lot of time exercising or you have overloaded muscles. If this is not treated, it can end up becoming an injury or even, from a “simple” thing, become a greater evil. And of course, if you have discomfort and pain, start immediately with physical exercise. Don’t do it until you’re recovered.
