One of the last components needed to complete any workout and likely the most forgotten. Everyone should always set aside the right amount time within a workout to get a beneficial stretch. To begin with, there are two important times that one should stretch, at the beginning and end of each workout. Through my personal experiences many individuals, even coaches get timing of the first stretch all wrong. Recent studies have shown that stretching before warming up your muscles does more harm than good. Think of your muscles as a rubber band, when taking a new rubber band from the box (before our muscles are warmed up) it appears to be stiff or much less elastic. Then after stretching it back and forth for a few minutes (after our muscles have been warmed up) the rubber band is then more "limber" or elastic. Therefore, our muscles have the same concept that after a proper warm-up, where the blood flow is rushing through those muscles we are working, this is the correct time to stretch before continuing on to the strenuous piece of your workout. Let's take my workout for example, I begin each workout with a five minute walk on a slight incline, after this five minutes I then take the time to preform my stretches. Doing this the proper way you will also see much more rapid improvement in your flexibility! Then finally, after the workout be sure to conclude it with that last stretch.
Recommended Amount of Time to Stretch:
*Should be done to each major muscle group, specifically those that you will be using in your workout*
Hold each stretch 15-60 seconds
Total time stretching 10 minutes
At least 2-3 days per week
Your Motivator and Companion,
-Gabby
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