7 Habits of Highly Effective Stretchers

For Runners:

1. Remember that stretching is not a warm up.
2. Don’t stretch before you’ve moved. Warm up gently first with movement and slow running with short strides. There is no evidence that stretching before exercise is helpful to prevent injury, but it might be useful at the end of a run. Specific injuries or susceptibility to specific injury may make certain stretches particularly useful. (In conjunction with appropriate strengthening exercises for any muscle imbalances.) An example would be gentle calf stretching after 10 minutes of gentle running for those with a tendency towards Achilles tendinopathy.  Empirically this is often helpful.
3. Stretch gently after exercise. Use stretching as part of your cool down after running. And for most people finishing your run with a sprint is probably not wise. A cool down, of continuing to move while going slower at the end of a run helps get your body gently adapted to having a slower pumping heart. This can help lessen the chance of a heart arrhythmia during the immediate post exercise period and blood pressure dropping in those susceptible to such problems.
4. Don’t over-stretch. Overstretching is likely worse than no stretching.
5. Stretch gently for an intermediate length of time, not too long and not too short. 10 Seconds x 10 is a good example of an intermediate time and repetition number.
6. Focus on the posterior leg muscles if you are a runner. The calf muscles and hamstrings are usually tight. For runners, there is only rarely a need to stretch the quads.  Those performing other sports, including strength training, can stretch the quads (and much more) gently. Walking lunges can serve the purpose of stretching the quads.
7. Don’t forget other forms of exercise. Strength training and cardio will help you reach a balance, and a healthy diet will put the topping on your search for fitness. And of course core strengthening is helpful in many ways. So that means we’ll need to have a blog up on a 5 minute Runner’s Core Workout soon.

Additional Information:

More on Stretching

Running Injuries

Tagged as: Tips