Streeeeeeetch...

Our dogs do it.  Our cats do it.  So why is it so hard for us to do it?  (Besides, you know, having more important things to do than bark at the mail carrier and snub what’s for dinner.)  (No, I am not talking about constant napping, although maybe I should be?)

 

Stretching.  I’m talking about stretching.

 

First, let’s talk about how to stretch.  Stretching works best on warm-ish muscles.  This means that before we get out of bed in the morning (or just after, if we have to stand up for whatever stretch we’re doing) is a perfectly good time to stretch, but if we’re going outside in the dark and cold to run, we might want to make sure we walk a bit to get our muscles less frozen before we stretch.  Alternatively, in the before-workout space, we can do dynamic stretches (think about things like high-knees or walking lunges).  We want to save the kind of stretches we hold (static stretches) for after we’re done with the workout.

 

No matter what kind of stretching we are doing, our goal is to give the muscles we are stretching enough time to relax.  Science says it takes between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.  Here in reality land, I don’t think too many of us have 2 minutes’ worth of patience to hold a stretch that is intense enough to do us good, so my pro tip is:  hold the stretch for about five breaths, which will, for most people, be about 30 seconds.  Also, counting five breaths will distract us from the sometimes not entirely comfortable sensation of stretching.

 

Now, about that intensity thing:  in a perfect world in which we all have plenty of time and enthusiasm to do the stuff that is good for us, we would spend five breaths at a range of motion that we could feel but that didn’t hurt.  And then, once our muscles had settled in to that level of intensity, we would move a little farther because space to do so had opened up, repeating until we really reached the limit of what we could do.  However, the important bit is not to push ourselves past the point of healthy discomfort and into pain.

 

In my time working as a personal trainer and Pilates instructor, I have learned that almost nobody does enough stretching unless there is someone (like me!) standing over them and telling them to do it.  It is not because stretching is hard.  I think it is actually because stretching is easy and mostly feels good.  This gives us the idea that it’s not really important.  Let me put on my bossy pants for a moment here:  we are worth the five or ten minutes of stretching time, so let’s just do it.

 

In case me bossing everyone around is not enough motivation, here are some good reasons to stretch:  it increases range of motion, helps prevent injury, and keeps us supple.  Did I mention it also feels good?

 

Go play.