Stretch into Shape

5 exercises to keep you flexible and prevent injuries

Stretching keeps your muscles flexible, helping to prepare them for exercise and recover from the effort afterward. Skip the stretches, and you won’t get nearly the benefits you should from aerobic exercise and resistance training.

“Stretching helps you move freely during aerobic exercise, it enables your muscles to build more strength during weight training, and it helps keep muscles long and lean,” says Sharon Willett, a physical therapist and sports trainer at the Virginia Sportsmedicine Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

Stretching increases your range of motion by making your muscles, tendons, and joints more flexible. So the more you stretch, the greater benefit you’ll get from your workouts, and the sooner you’ll see results. Contrary to what you may have heard in the past, experts agree you should warm up your muscles before stretching, to avoid tearing “cold” or stiff muscles.

Lack of flexibility not only slows your progress but also can lead to injury, which can derail even the best-laid exercise routines. And unless you’ve been athletic all your life, chances are you’re not as flexible as you need to be to get the most out of your body-toning workouts.

When you were a baby, you were so flexible that you could probably put your toes in your mouth. When you were a teenager, you could slither under a limbo bar. But as an adult, you probably wouldn’t even think of taking a turn when the limbo music begins. As we age, both our muscles and tendons lose their flexibility. If the only exercise we get is flipping through the TV listings at breakneck pace, our muscles flex even less, getting stiffer over the years. “Aside from the aging process, our habits and daily activities can also cause our muscles and tendons to shorten,” says Willett. Even your shoes can inhibit your flexibility. For example, in women, wearing high heels shortens the hamstrings and calves. This won’t be a problem when you’re sitting still, says Willett. But if you try to do a leg curl or squat, the shortened muscles won’t do the job willingly. Try to push a shortened muscle or tendon through too much exercise or range of motion, and you’ll develop pain or an injury, such as tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon).

Ironically, it’s not only aging and lifestyle that can affect flexibility, but exercise, too. “Weight training and weight-bearing exercise like jogging contract muscles again and again, shortening the muscles and tendons involved,” says Willett. “So you have to take the time to stretch out your muscles again after you use them. If you do so, not only will your muscles and tendons retain their elasticity but also they’ll be able to get even stronger. An exercise program that includes all three elements (cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility) will keep your muscles and tendons in the best shape possible.”

In addition to keeping you flexible, stretching burns calories and helps you relax.

“Stretching isn’t aerobic,” concedes Willett. “But you’ll burn more calories by stretching than you will by sitting and doing nothing.” For a 150-pound woman, 30 minutes of stretching burns 60 to 100 calories–about the same as gentle yoga–compared to 22 calories for sitting still.

As an added incentive, you’ll find that stretching is extremely relaxing, especially after a workout. “Stretching will slowly lower your heart rate after an activity,” says Willett. “That has a calming effect on most people. Also, the deep breathing and stillness required for stretching are really helpful for releasing tension both in the muscles and in the mind.”

Experts recommend that you stretch all your muscle groups, rather than just doing the stretches that target your particular trouble spot. All your muscles and tendons work together, so if you ignore one stretch, then you won’t get maximum benefit from the others.

As for how to stretch, it should come fairly naturally. We raise our arms when we get out of bed; we wiggle our backs if we feel a muscle ache. All of these motions are really stretches. It’s easy. Still, for maximum effectiveness, you need to keep a few rules in mind when you stretch, says Willett. Warm Your Muscles Stretching is not a warm-up. Spend at least 5 minutes doing some form of light aerobic exercise, such as walking, climbing stairs, or cleaning the house. Work hard enough so that you feel warm and you sweat slightly. If you stretch after your workout, your muscles will be warm and supple.

Don’t BouncePushing your muscles in short, jerky movements tears the muscle fibers. Instead, slowly and evenly move into the stretch until you feel resistance, then back off a little and hold that position.

Hold Each Stretch for 20 Seconds “Stretches held for at least 20 seconds increase flexibility the most,” says Willett. And don’t hold your breath. Instead, take two or three deep breaths as you hold the stretch.

Do each stretch two, three, or four times. The real benefits come in increments, with each subsequent stretch.

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