Bend It Like Gumby

You came here for post about fitness right?

Okay, lesson one. Strap in, it’s a long one.

Stretch.

Image courtesy of www.got-specialkids.com

All day long, stretch. Before a workout and after one. Stretch before you go to bed and after you wake up. Stretch in the middle of the day when you can feel yourself about to hit your

afternoon slump.

I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Be aware though, you can over stretch. I am going to give you a three minute guide to stretching properly: why and how.

When you wake up stretch. It will make you feel less groggy. Caffeine is great to wake up. But, it takes 20 minutes for the blood stream to absorb the drug. If you add on however long it takes for you to actually brew a pot of coffee or to heat up the kettle, you’re looking at 30 minutes after you wake up before you feel even slightly awake.

By doing a few short stretches you can get out of bed, and be ready to organize your morning. I really do mean simple. Touch your toes (or just try, you’ll get there eventually) and hold that stretch for 8-12 seconds. Touch the bottom of your foot to your butt, that stretches the biggest muscle in the body, the quad, hold it for the same amount of time. Then do the other leg.

Feel free to add in whatever stretches you may know and just go with the flow. Doing the same routine before bed will help you get a better rest. You’ll wake up feeling more recovered.

Now the big question, “Why should I stretch before and after I work out?” The answer is simple, muscles that are tight are not going to work as hard and they are more prone to injury. The trick here is to focus your stretch on the muscles you’re going to work that day in the gym. Doing a quick search on your phone can give you a comprehensive list of what stretches affect which muscle groups. Those lists usually have helpful pictures.

Finally, after a workout you want to stretch to help your recovery process. When we exercise we are breaking down our muscle tissue for it to then rebuild itself with more cells. Picture the muscles in your body like a bunch of connected rubber bands. But once the muscles are broken down, lactic acid builds up in between the muscle fibers. Lactic acid in your muscles is why you feel sore after a workout. So, we get rid of it by, you guessed it, stretching. You can do the same stretches you did at the start of your session or do more. Some great tools to help you stretch (but all together are not completely needed) are a yoga mat, a muscle roller (they come in different sizes and designs), and a resistance band.

That’s all we have for this week. Stretching a great. Do not let yourself feel self conscious when you go to the gym and no one else seems to be stretching. They don’t know what’s good for them. Progress is steady and stretching will make you stronger in the long run. I didn't even have time to get into the benefits to increased flexibility. If you like this post, make sure to subscribe to get the newsletter and share this post with your friends. As always, eat right bro!