Stretching it out

In my running I am constantly thinking about stretching. I do not want to pull a muscle and I battle tightness in my legs from time to time... Like I am now with my calf muscles. So I was intrigued to see this article from the Running Doc.

Stretching, as you can imagine, is very important. Clearly, being more flexible allows for some biomechanical imperfections to be “ignored” by the body and prevent injury or chronic inflammation by rubbing. The question is: how do you get to this flexible state. As you know, being Gumby-like is a factor of heredity, as some people with little stretching can contort in all types of positions while others need to work at it.

A global (whole-body) stretching program has been shown to be the answer. Be sure to warm up first, just enough to raise your body temperature about ½ degree (as evidenced by a minimal sweat); this will make your muscles more pliable, like taffy, and easier to stretch. Whenever you fit in a stretch routine, individual to you, daily is the key. Time of day is of no consequence; doing it is. Meet with a personal trainer or coach to go over which stretches and proper technique.

The whole-body stretching seems ideal just for overall health. One thing that I am beginning to do is using a towel to pull on the muscles and stretch in that manner. I did this tonight and my calf muscles feel great. They have not felt this good in a while. I think I am on to something!