Stretching Benefits

Just like warming up your car before a ride, your body needs to be warmed up before activity. Especially during these cold winter months it is imperative your body is prepared for any strenuous activity. Some of the leading causes of injury during the next few months will be due to shoveling, and mainly because people did not prepare their body. Muscles are not stretched and therefore strained because they are cold and tight.

Stretching may seem unnecessary and may be tedious or mundane but there are many benefits to it. Besides preventing injury, stretching reduces muscle soreness after exercise by increasing blood flow to the area. Stretching can increase your flexibility and therefore your range of motion, which can benefit you in sports or activities you enjoy, like catching a football. I’m sure Odell Beckham Jr. stretched his arm before making that impressive one-handed catch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6dtSPyYvCs.

Although stretching is important, there is a wrong way to stretch! When your muscles are cold, they are also tight. When you go to pull on them and stretch you may possibly do more harm than good. Yes, it is important to stretch either before or after a workout. However, your muscles shouldn’t be ice cold before tugging on them. If you are this cold it is recommended you start a warm up with a light walk or jog to get your body temperature up before stretching.

In general, exercise and stretching make you better at what you like to do. You wouldn’t rev your engine immediately after getting into a freezing car so why push your body before it’s ready? Next time you warm up your engine use that as a reminder to warm up your own engine as well.

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