Stretching is very important to your fitness routine and will help to ensure that you don’t have any injuries.
It was so very easy to make excuses to not stretch after every workout.
I’m late.
I’m tired
I’ll do it later.
It doesn’t matter.
Since flexibility is a HUGE part of your overall fitness. The more you stretch, the better you will feel. AND, the more you stretch, the more you’ll be able to do, and you’ll be able to push yourself further.
What kind of stretching should you do?
Well, there are 2 different types of stretching: dynamic and static. BOTH are very important to building healthy muscles.
Dynamic Stretching
Dynamic stretching is the type of stretching your body needs to warm up. It’s stretching through motion, moving while you warm up your muscles.
Static Stretching
You NEVER want to do static stretches as a warm up. You may end up hurting yourself because your muscles are cold.
You’ll want to incorporate static stretching (long, deep stretches) AFTER you work out so that your muscles are warm.
How Long should I stretch?
When you are doing static stretches, it is important to stretch for at least 30 seconds. Your muscles have a catch in them that will prevent you from injuring yourself and after 15 seconds, you can go a little deeper.
So make sure that you have a good stretching routine added in before you work out, and as a cool down after your workout!
