Weekly Training Article | Stretching and Its Benefits | 8/6/12-8/12/12

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By Terry Sandhu
If you want to get fitter, ortry to lose weight, the first point of call is your diet. You decidewhat you should cut back on and what you should add to your diet toachieve your goals. The second thing that you will probably consider is agood exercise program. In most peoples' views, a good exercise programwill initially consist of some type of cardio exercise. After this, somepeople may try to incorporate some sort of weight training regime.
An essential part of anyexercise program is often ignored by most people. This essential part isstretching. Some people may go through the motions with a couple ofminutes of stretching before a workout, but most people do not realizethe wonderful benefits that stretching can give them. Stretching, alongwith cardio and weight training, should be considered a vital part ofany exercise program.
The first thing to remember isthat you should always have a good warm-up before stretching. This isbecause a warm muscle is always going to be more flexible than a coldone, and this will avoid the risk of injury. The second thing is to makesure that you do not push too far when stretching. Always go to thepoint where you can feel the pull and not to the point where it becomespainful.
As children we are naturallyflexible, but this changes as we get older. Our muscles begin to gettighter and this is why it is so easy to pull a muscle, or wake up inthe mornings feeling sore and stiff if we haven't slept with a goodposture. As children the bulk of our world consists of physical play. Werun around and move about in ways that stretch our bodies. When we getolder this stops. You rarely hear of children complaining of back painor pulled hamstrings.
You should have a goodstretching program consisting of 10 to 15 minutes. You will get the mostvalue from stretching if you do it after your normal workout. Thebenefits of stretching are many, and here are just a few:
When you exercise you arestressing your muscles. It's this stress that is going to make yourmuscles stronger or give you muscular endurance. Stretching after aworkout is going to reduce the stress on your muscles. -- Stretchingwill allow your blood to reach the stressed muscles more quickly, andit's your blood that carries the nutrients that are going to repair you.You will have less soreness in your muscles the day after a workout,allowing them to recover more quickly.
Stretching will improve yourposture. It will make your body feel more comfortable. This will benoticeable in the way you stand and the way you move around. Goodposture is extremely important for good physical health. After all, it'sbad posture that will end up giving you muscular problems in the longterm.
Stretching will improve yourdaily life and allow you to perform tasks with more ease. It helpsmovement and you can improve everyday things such as bending, leaningand carrying. How many times have you pulled a muscle after pickingsomething up? How many times have you turned or moved suddenly and felt astab of pain? This is because your muscles are tight and not preparedfor the particular movement, and end up becoming injured. Stretchingwill reduce the chances of this happening.
Do not ignore or downplay theimportance of stretching. Incorporate stretching into your exerciseprogram and it will give you benefits which will make you physicallyfitter, help you avoid injuries, and increase the quality of your lifeon a day-to-day basis.