Love or hate, stretching has always been a crucial part of our fit and healthy body. If you want to stay strong and robust for your whole life, then stretching is the key. It not only enhances your flexibility and range of movement but also boosts your performance in training and other bodily activities.
Stretching is advantageous if you do it correctly. Some mistakes can take you to the risk of injury. The following are few slip-ups to nullify to improve your flexibility.
1. Not warming up properly.
When you directly go deep into any exercise or stretch without any warm-up, you may feel a lot of pain; ouch. Without flexibility, your cold muscles do not stretch, and you face that painful situation. Therefore, before doing any workout, go to any cardio machine with your preference and make your body a little bit warm. It will also stretch your muscles safely. On a special note, never hop to the lifting just after the treadmill. By warming up, you stretch your muscles to some extent that decreases your risk of injury. That doesn’t mean that you go and start to do heavy exercise.
2. Not stretching for adequate time.
You only swing your arms once or twice and call it stretching, listen it wouldn’t be considered proper stretching. You have to give appropriate time and work to your whole body. An ideal stretching is a whole-body movement process, and every stretch needs enough time. While regular stretching, it should be in between 30 to 60 seconds. Specialists say that you must do six to twelve-minute pre-workout before the main workout. So, please don’t be shy and slant into it.
3. Performing erroneous techniques
If you want to get the best results, proper stretching with correct techniques must be there. Sound practices are very significant to keep you away from injuries. In the standing stretch, many people move their knees too far from the midline of the physique. Dynamic stretches come with few guidelines, not with timers. And it would be best if you repeat every dynamic act 10-12 times. Instead, place your flexed knee in the strand of your hip and keep your trunk straight.
4. Stretching with injury
When your body has an injury, you should get away from stretching unless working with a certified therapist to provide a particular stretching regimen. But on your side, if you have an injury, an extension can make it worse. That’s why people recommend not to stretch while having a wound or internal damage.
5. Stretch only a few body parts
It becomes captivating to stretch only those body parts which feel pressure during the workout. For example, if you have heavy squats and pull only the lower part of your body in the gym, it can cause you pain. And if you only stretch your upper body with the same, then the pain can be immense. So, there must be a balance in stretching your body parts. You must tailor your stretches appropriately to initiate the details of your body.
6. Not stretching at all.
We know that not stretching your body is tempting. But that doesn’t make you healthy. Spend some time in cycling, sweat a little, leap the stretch, and get to the beat in the shower. All these activities activate your muscles and tissues that you can’t get from your cardio alone. You risk your body without doing stretches as it can tear your muscles. You never know when you will have to carry a sudden heavyweight, or you have to run. So, it would help if you stretch yourself in advance. Stretching will help you to get away from this danger.
