Rules Before Stretching Daily

Stretching offers multiple benefits, but you have to do it right. Touching your toes for a few seconds before you head out for your daily run is not the most effective way to increase flexibility or prevent injury. If you want to stretch daily, follow certain rules that will help you benefit from the movement while also enhancing your performance in athletics and life.

  1. Benefits

    • Stretching offers benefits, including greater freedom of motion and enhanced posture. When you stretch, your muscles and mind relax -- especially if your stretches happen in a yoga or tai chi class. If you are stiff or sore from a previous workout, stretching can help reduce soreness and tension. Active stretching before a workout can enhance your performance and make you feel good.

    Warm-up

    • Static stretching, in which you hold a stretch such as a seated forward fold for 15 to 30 seconds, might be the type of stretching you do daily. Before doing such stretches, warm up for five to 10 minutes with dynamic activity such as marching in place or light jogging while pumping the arms. A warm-up increases circulation and elasticity in your muscles and reduces the chance that a cold muscle snaps or strains with the stretch. Because static stretches are best done on a warm body, you should reserve them for the end of your workout. If warming up before stretching is not an option for you, the American Council on Exercise recommends doing static stretches right after you take a warm shower or sit in a hot tub, both of which make your body and muscles warmer to accommodate the movement.

    Breathing and Safety

    • Before doing daily static stretches, take a deep breath. Execute the stretch on your exhale and go only to the point of tension -- not pain. Stop immediately if you do experience pain. Continue to breath during the stretch. Stretching can exacerbate certain injuries, so check with your doctor before adding it to your daily regimen if you are recovering from an injury.

    Dynamic Stretching

    • Do your dynamic stretching prior to exercise. This type of stretching consists of movement that increases flexibility, such as windmills, lunges and twists. Dynamic stretches aren't held; they involve precise, deliberate movement at a moderate pace. Although dynamic stretching can be a part of a warm-up, you need to do basic heat-building in the body before doing them. Start with a brisk walk, jog or pedaling a cycle for five minutes and then perform dynamic stretches for three to five minutes. Before engaging in dynamic stretches, consider which ones make sense in the context of your upcoming workout. If you are going to play tennis, arm circles and torso twists will help prepare you to swing your racket, but, if you are going for a run, your dynamic stretches might consist of traveling lunges and high-knee hugs to warm up your hips and thighs.