Fitness

What's New: Stretching
While the focus of fitness has been working out and what type of workout to try we keep forgetting what we should be doing BEFORE we even break a sweat. Wonder what that is? Stretching out of course! Stretching has its benefits and is the key to physical fitness. Want to know more? Read on!

WHY DO IT? Benefits of stretching
Before we start here is a list of some of the benefits stretching has to offer.
1. Allows greater delivery of oxygen to working muscles
2. Creates more pliable muscles thus improving efficiency/power
3. Increases speed of nerve impulses
4. Increases blood flow to the muscles
5. Decreases number of injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues
6. Improves blood flow to the heart
7. Leads to earlier sweating, which reduces risk of high body temperature during strenuous exercise

PROCEEDURE How do you do it?
There are different muscle groups you can stretch so before we get into that, here are some suggestions you might want to consider. Slowly move into the stretch and hold it for 10 seconds, giving your body time to adjust. Do not bounce or force the muscle too far because this can lead to injury. At first you may notice that your body will only go so far, but after a few seconds or even minutes, your body seems to be able to go farther. Our bodies have a have a way of protecting themselves by restricting how far muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues can stretch so as to prevent injury. When the body recognizes that there is no harm it will relax letting the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues stretch more.

STRETCH WHAT? Whole body or body part?
So what should you stretch? It is recommended to do a full body stretch before a workout, and stretch each body part you are working on between each set. Take your time when doing a full body stretch since you are warming up major muscles and this will be your initial stretch. When you stretch certain body parts between each set it should only take about ten seconds. Why bother stretching if its only for ten minutes? It will help the blood flow to that muscle, and help prevent what is called delayed onset muscle soreness which is the soreness you feel 24-48 hours after a good workout. Stretching has been shown to increase the effectiveness of weight training by allowing muscles to take in more blood, cause greater muscle building and repairing activity, and because the soreness is decreased, allows greater strength on subsequent workouts. All that for 10 seconds?