fitbody
Try Some Stretches Four Ways to Flex Our Muscles
by Marlaina Donato W
hether working out at the gym or taking to the trails, stretching is sometimes an overlooked
asset to any exercise regimen. Eliminating stretches or not doing them properly increases the risk of injury and deprives muscles of what they need for optimum performance. “Just because you are in shape doesn’t
always mean you have good flexibility,” notes LaReine Chabut, a Los Angeles fitness expert and author of Stretching for Dummies. “If you do plenty of strength training and cardio, but you don’t do any stretching, you’re creating an imbalance in your body. Flexibility plays a big part in overall fitness.” Loosening up correctly not only
fosters flexibility, but also improves muscle endurance and coordination.
“Everyone should be stretching, especially as you age, to maintain range of motion and balance,” advises fitness trainer Ben Wegman, of The Fhitting Room, in New York City. “A personal workout regime
can be enhanced with stretching, which also increases mobility, improves posture and performance, and reduces stress levels.”
Four Categories, Many Variations
“Different types of stretches access different muscles and different types of flexibility, but together, can benefit everyone,” says Wegman. There are many ways to stretch, but knowing what to do and when to do it can be key to optimum results and injury prevention. Warming up to different types of
stretches can be a little daunting, but the basic four (sometimes combined in terminology) are passive, static, active and dynamic. In the past, ballistic stretching was common and included potentially harmful bouncing tech- niques, but today dynamic stretching has become a favorite among trainers, consisting of specific, controlled movements that prepare the body for
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the demands of both engaging in sports and an average workout. “Stretches can be confusing, so as
a rule of thumb, I suggest dynamic stretching for any workout that involves movement and passive stretching for cooling down after a workout to release the muscles,” says Chabut. Stretching also plays an important
role in yoga, which generally comple- ments different stretches by adding a mind-body connection. “Breath is the key difference between yoga and regular stretching,” notes Chabut. “The use of breath allows you to get deeper into the muscle. Yoga also places particular
emphasis on core muscles:
the
abdominals, lower back and spinal muscles.
Through focus and deep
breathing, yoga allows you to move beyond stretching into
a deeper physical experience that both strengthens and
focuses your body.” Injury Prevention
and Recovery Nancy Whelan, a physical therapist and owner of The
Physical Therapy Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, emphasizes the impor- tance of proper technique for clients
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