Tip of the day for the rest of your days...

I guess this tip is sort of a part 2 from my last one regarding stretching. 

So how does one stretch properly without hurting themselves but also benefit from it as well?

It's easy. 

First, do a little warm up to get the blood flowing through your muscles, tendons and ligaments. Never stretch your muscles cold. You'll just end up hurting yourself. 

Second, do NOT bounce your stretches. What I mean by bounce is the action you do when you're trying to stretch beyond your limit by pulling back slightly and pushing forward into the stretch repeatedly. This will cause little micro-tears in the muscles and once again you'll just end up hurting yourself.

Third, when you stretch you want to push yourself to your limit and maybe even just beyond. In order to do this there are two simple tips:

1. When you've reached your limit and you want to stretch beyond your limit, relax the muscles slightly you are trying to stretch (staying in your stretched position) and then continue stretching. It's natural for the body to tense up when it feels a bit of pain, so that's why relaxing is key here. 

2. How do you relax? While you're stretching, inhale down into your diaphragm (very important) and as you stretch beyond your limits, exhale. This will aid in the relaxation and loosening of your muscles.

Voila! Easy as low fat, low sugar pie. You'll be hitting up the rhythmic dance floor in no time!

Ps. Keep it real. Flexibility is vital for maintaining a healthy body, but take your time with it. It's not worth overstretching and hurting yourself.

Tip of the day for the rest of your days...

So let's say you decide to head to the gym after years of sitting in front of a computer. What do you do first? 

What you do NOT do first is static stretching before a workout.

Why? Stretching is as much as a workout as lifting weights, running, plyometrics etc. So before you do any sort of exercise you need to warm up. You can do this by starting with a light jog. What this does for you is gets blood flowing through all your extremities into the large muscles that are going to be used for your workout. The blood will warm up your muscles and nourish it with the oxygen it's going to need. This was a common practice when I used to do Tae Kwon Do and let me tell you, it has really protected me from serious injuries especially with all the high flying kicks and splits. =_=

Now, I know this may sound like common sense, but I've seen it many times in the military, police physical examination (he got injured as the physical test began), the gym etc. People think stretching their shoulders, biceps, back, thighs and calves before picking up a 30 pound weight is warm up. What they don't realize is that, every time they stretch before warming up, they're putting strain on their cold muscles and creating micro tears in the muscle tissue. When this happens and you reach for a weight, you are more prone to muscle, ligament and tendon strains and tears. There's nothing worse than injuring yourself first day at the gym. 

So what's the tip of the day? Warm-up with a light jog and get your heart rate going, stretch and then proceed with your workout.