Avoid Injury With These Simple Steps

Many people take stretching very lightly with their workouts and when doing so, you are causing your body to be more prone to injury. What many people also don’t know is when the best time to stretch is. For example, is it best to stretch right before a workout to get your muscle loosened? Or how about after your workout to relax those worked muscles? Stretching holds a lot of benefits besides just keeping yourself from injury, so find out more about what sorts of benefits you can experience from stretching out your body!

Stretching your body out can hold many benefits, such as improving your joint range of motion, which can help to improve your athletic performance and decrease your risk of injury. If you’re not an active person, many professionals claim that by stretching when you wake up can also benefit your health, because it gets your body ready for the day. No matter what stretching can do more good than harm to your body and this post will discuss with your the best time to stretch your body out during a workout.

So When Is The Best Time To Stretch?

The American College of Sports Medicine states that stretching each of the major muscle groups at least two times a week for 60 seconds per exercise, is the proper way of getting a good stretch into our body. This works to improve your flexibility and keep you from injuring yourself. Many claim that best time to stretch is in-between your warm up and workout. By doing so before you’re workout, you are stretching cold muscles which in turn may hurt yourself. Warm up by doing a light jog, walk or bike.

Some professionals even suggest holding off from stretching until after an intense workout such as sprinting or any field and track activities. Doing any sort of pre event activities may results in a decrease in performance. Also, be consistent with your stretches. Make sure to work out one side the same as the other for the same amount of time. This way your body becomes more equal in flexibility.

Other Tips For The Best Time To Stretch

– Focus on working those major muscle groups. For example, calves, thighs, hips, lower back, neck and shoulders. Make sure to stretch out those muscles and joints that you routinely use at work or play.

– Hold your stretches. Each stretch should be held for about 30 to 60 seconds. This allows your muscles enough time to actually stretch themselves out.

– Make stretches sport specific. Evidence may suggest that it would be helpful to tailor your stretching to your sport or activity. An example given, you’re an avid soccer player, you could be more vulnerable to a hamstring strain. So it would be important to focus on that part of your body.

– Keep up with it! This pre or post workout activity can be time-consuming. But you can achieve the most benefits by stretching regularly, at least two or three times a week.

To find out more on how to stretch out your body, consult with a local sports medicine doctor!