This week we will be having a bit of a stretching theme with some stretches coming in the next few days. Before we get into great stretches, I thought it would be good to explain why stretching is so important. There are plenty of reasons that stretching is good for your body, especially as you age. The truth is, stretching is just as vital for our bodies as exercise is. If you are feeling tight, sore muscles after your workout, it is most likely due to a lack of stretching. Stretching both before and after a workout will help keep muscles healthy and decrease the risk of fatigue, injury, and pain associated with working out.
Pre-Workout
If you are feeling sore after your workout, chances are you are not stretching enough before or after. Sore muscles can be a sign of soft tissue tears and high-than-usual amounts of lactic acid. Stretching will decrease the risk of tears and reduce amounts of lactic acid in soft tissue.
When we complete dynamic stretching before our workout, we are loosening muscles, tendons, and joints. These guys need to be loose because the sudden and intense movements we put our bodies through can cause tearing and stretching of muscles and tendons. Joints get quite a beating with almost any form of exercise. When we stretch our muscles, we release synovial fluid to our joints. This fluid helps keep joints lubricated throughout our workout and decreases contact stress on the larger knee, hip, and shoulder joints.
Besides the usual reduced risks of tears, stress fractures, and joint pain, stretching will also increase blood supply and nutrient flow to our muscles. Getting more oxygen to our muscles while we workout will only do good. Extra oxygen will help muscles respond faster and increase stamina. The increase of flexibility will give you greater range of motion
during your workout as well. This means you will be able to push your body
farther, workout for longer, and feel less pain. Yes, please!
Post Workout
Stretching after a workout is as important for our flexibility and posture as stretching beforehand is for our muscle health and injury reduction. Bulky, tight muscles are the last thing anyone wants from their sweat sessions, but that is exactly what a lack of post-workout stretching will bring. When we do static stretches after our workout, we are increasing out flexibility, range of motion, and encouraging proper posture.
So many things we do in modern life do harm to our posture. Working on computers for long amounts of time, sitting in car, even certain forms of exercise will pull on tight muscles and bring joints out of alignment. When we stretch, we are reducing our muscles' tightness and reducing improper strain on joints.
The Controversy
There is a new(ish) rift in the health and fitness world where some still say stretching after a workout will decrease muscle soreness, others disagree. New research is showing that post workout stretching may make no difference to sore muscles at all. Scientists believe that this is because the muscle has already had stress and been torn or stretched; by stretching after a workout, we are not undoing any of the damage that has already been done.
No matter which side of the fence you rest on, both still agree that stretching before a workout will decrease stress tears, fractures, and joint pain; while stretching after a workout will increase flexibility and good posture. Both sides also agree that stretching before and after a workout will increase range of motion- something important for any athlete.