The 9 Habits of Stretching

1. Stretching is not a warm up.

I can't tell you how many times I've been invited to a dance rehearsal where the team will stretch but never warm up. Stretching is not a warm up. You have to properly warm up your body before starting any physical activity. Stretching helps prevent injury, relieves muscle tension, and improves flexibility. However, it is not a warm up on its own. You actually have to warm up before doing intense, advanced stretching exercises. Warming up prepares your muscles for the activity about to happen. Your blood will go to body part that needs it most. When you're at rest most of your blood is being used in your brain, or other organs in your torso. Once you start physical activity, your body gives your muscles priority of your blood flow. That is why you can pull a muscle if you try to randomly race someone down a hallway. Your body was not prepared for the activity and the lack of blood flow caused injury to your muscle. Stretching does not warm up your muscles.

2. Don't focus on your good side.

It is very encouraging to see progress and that will make you want to push yourself even harder. The problem is that if one leg is looser than the other, we will focus on the positive and completely neglect the other leg. Make sure you are showing love to your entire body and not just the muscles that are easiest to stretch.

3. Don't bounce.

I know stretching can be uncomfortable, especially when muscles are sore but do not bounce. Bouncing is when you reach your limit stretching and for a split second release the tension just to engage again. You will see quiet a bit, but it's wrong. This is not effective and could possibly cause you injury. The best strategy is to reach strength capacity and hold the pose for about 30 seconds. Breathe deeply and when the muscle starts to relax on its own, then you sink further into the stretch.

4. Stretching should not cause pain.

Like I mentioned above, it can be uncomfortable when you are sore but it shouldn't hurt. If you can usually touch your toes but can't because you are so sore, DO NOT try to touch your toes. Reach until you feel a slight resistance, breathe deeply and your muscles will begin to relax on their own. Just sit in it. I actually don't do resistance when I'm sore, I just sit in a position that feels good and provides my tired muscles relief. Don't cause yourself pain or injury just to prove a point. Stretching should be relaxing to your muscles and should even feel good. Uncomfortable is fine if you are trying to increase flexibility, but it should never hurt.

5. Stretch Everyday.

I can't tell you how many people have asked me for secrets on how to improve flexibility. There aren't any. You have to do it everyday and work hard at it. You can reach a split a lot faster than you think, just not overnight.

6. Stretch opposing muscles.

Opposing muscles are the muscles on the other side of the body part you are stretching. If you stretch your quadriceps, make sure you stretch your hamstrings for the same about of time. If you stretch your back muscles make sure you stretch your pectoral and abdomen muscles. If you stretch your inner thigh muscles so you can achieve a straddle, make sure you stretch your hips. Your muscles work together. It doesn't matter if one muscle is loose, if the opposing muscle is tight. You are just going to stretch for months and wonder why you aren't making any progress.

7. Distract yourself.

Some days i just have stretch days where I dedicate an hour to stretch as many muscles on my body as possible. Some stretches are delicious and I could stay in them for days, others no so much. I like to keep my phone handy or have the television for those uncomfortable stretches. Like I said earlier, don't just focus on your good side. A stretch will feel so nice that you tell yourself that it is fine if you hold a few seconds longer. You also tell yourself the lie that it is alright to cut an uncomfortable stretch short by 15 seconds. It's not! Those 15 seconds make a world of a difference. As I scroll through social media or watch my show, my brain becomes focused on that cute dog video instead of focused on how much I hate the current stretch.

8. Use a timer.

I am the biggest wuss. With the stretches that feel amazing I count oooone ,twwooooo, thhhhhhree.... That's not the case with the stretches I don't like. All of my numbers just become one word: onetwothreefurfiysihsevay... I use the timer on my phone to ensure that all my muscles receive that same amount of love and care.

9. Use a ball or muscle roller.

Our muscles could use some help relaxing. When I learned about using balls and muscle rollers it revolutionized how I stretched. Believe me, I use to do every single one of the "don'ts" listed above. They sell fancy ones in the workout aisle of your store, but you could also just use a rubber ball from the dollar store and the rolling pin from your kitchen. These instruments help give you a deep tissue massage. When you can't reach your flexibility goal, sometimes the reason is because our deep muscles tissue is not relaxing and/or stretching.There are two ways to use these tools: you could either press down on muscles to massage, or put your weight over them and let gravity help you reach inner tissue. Again, it should not cause pain. At most, it should feel uncomfortable. I like using the ball to roll out the arches of my feet, my glutes, calves, shoulders, and forearms. The roller I use on my thigh muscles, back, and arms. With the ball I use the same technique I use for stretching. I place it in a spot and sink my body onto it. There is pressure at first, but if you hold it for 15-30 seconds you will begin to feel the muscle relax. I then either go deeper into the tissue or move on to another spot. Try it!

Bonus information:

There are 3 types of flexibility:

Passive Flexibility: Is when your stretch is being held by another person or by gravity.

Active Flexibility: This is when you can hold it in the air for several seconds on your own.

Dynamic Flexibility: This is when you kick or jump and use energy to reach your maximum flexibility. You do need to be warm to do this.

-Wendy B.