5 Tips for Effective Muscle Stretching

I’m sure that everyone knows that it is important to properly prepare your body before doing any strenuous exercise. By stretching your muscles, you can help avoid serious injuries that are not only painful, but can also impede your performance meaning it takes much longer for you to lose weight.

I also recommend that people stretch before and after any exercise, so be sure to do your stretching before you start using your treadmill! This will help to increase your flexibility, putting less stress on your muscles. Stretching after your workout is important too to help prevent pulled muscles and other injuries.

Here are my top tips to help you avoid damaging your muscles while exercising:

1. Never stretch until it hurts! The majority of people think that there’s ‘no gain without pain’. This is never the case – you should only ever stretch to a position that is comfortable for you, and then hold this position for about 20 seconds.

2. Always remember to breathe while you are stretching. By practicing some deep breathing exercises while you stretch you will actually be able to give your muscles a much better workout.

3. Warm up your muscles before you stretch. Some people believe that stretching is the warm-up. But you should walk or jog for a few minutes to get the blood flowing and then begin to stretch.

4. When you have completed your work out take a nice warm bath or shower. The hot water will help to gently relax your muscles. By stretching after your bath or shower you will help to stop your muscles seizing up, as well as feeling wonderful!

5. Never bounce while you are stretching. You may have seen athletes on TV do this, but it is very dangerous because instead of stopping injuries you could actually cause yourself serious harm.

A lot of people assume that a treadmill will only exercise the leg muscles when in fact it delivers a full body workout. While it is important to stretch your calf muscles, quadriceps, and hamstrings it is also extremely important to stretch muscles in other areas as well such as the shoulders, neck, back and abs.

Don’t be scared to mix up your stretching exercises a bit. Instead of just trying to touch your toes, you can also try a number of other different stretches. Try doing the splits or some lunges, or even some calf stretches. Stand on the edge of a step and lower your heel over the edge, but remember to stop just before it gets painful.

When stretching you should always make sure your movements and slow and deliberate – it actually helps to keep some tension in the muscles to get the most out of your stretch. And remember, you should never stretch to the point where it becomes painful.