Fitness Talk Friday | Why Stretching Is So Important
You know that moment when you start your workout and they make you go through this whole "warm up" thing and you spend two minutes complaining about it or you just skip it because "you don't need to do that part?" Or when you finish your workout and you're already dying but then they want you to "cool down" for another two minutes and you "just don't have time for that?"
Am I ringing a bell here?
If I am don't feel bad, I used to do and think the same exact thing.
Though these warm up and cool down stretches are short, at the time they seem like forever.
But did you know that not stretching will increase the tightness in your body which can allow muscles to pull on joints causing some major pain?
Here are just a few reasons why you SHOULD just suck it up and STRETCH:
It reduces the risk of injury by decreasing resistance on your muscles. As I was just stating, it decreases muscle stiffness which in return increases your range of motion. Just think of how much more effective all those reps will be!
It improves posture and keeps your back in better alignment. Who deals with back pain? I know I do!
It helps relieve post workout aches and pains by keeping your muscles loose. Of course you could always use Beachbody's Performance Recover or the old warm Epsom salt bath trick helps, too.
It helps prepare your body for the stress of exercise. You may not realize it but you put a ton of stress on your body when you workout. You know that frustrating moment when you start working out and you GAIN weight? Yeah, none of us like to see that but it's because when you begin any kind of high intensity program with resistance training involved, you are going to put your body in a state of stress which is going to create a cortisol response (hormone response). This is going to cause inflammation and cause water to kind of surround your muscles to protect them. After about 3 weeks your body will go, “Oh okay, so this is what we’re doing!” and then that inflammation will release.
*Stay tuned for next
weeks "Fitness Talk Friday" at 7:30pm EST over at Facebook.com/RachelFaulFitness
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