Why it is Crucial to Stretch Before your Workouts

Are you a regular gym-goer? Are you new to extensive workouts in group fitness classes? Are you worried that intense exercises can hurt your muscles? Well, if your answers to any of these questions are yes, then knowing about the various mobility and stretching exercises may benefit you.

Mobility exercises

Mobility exercises refer to those kinds of movements that increase the ability of the muscles that support the joints and the tendons to have an excellent range of motions during intense activity.

Those who regularly practice stretching report experiencing improved balance, more stability, as well as an increase in the flexibility of the muscles.  Experts from leading health clubs believe that when you start your gym routine with some mobility workouts, you improve the flexibility of your muscles. As a result, you can withstand stress better. This pre-workout ritual also prevents any tightness and improves your recovery time.

Benefits of the stretching and flexibly exercises

Mobility and stretching exercises offer a wide range of physical benefits and also increases your capacity to perform substantial activities more efficiently. Just after following a few days of mobility and stretching exercises, you will start to notice some astonishing changes in the body. There is no end to the number of benefits that you can enjoy by practicing the right kind of flexibility exercises in your personal training. You can look forward to the below significant benefits from dedicating a few minutes for stretching before you commence with your workouts:

• Reduces the chances of injuries:
  By practicing the mobility exercises, you can develop greater flexibility and mobility of the body. As such, it reduces your chances of getting any damages in trying out more intense activities. Further, it also corrects the inherent imbalance within the muscles by loosening and tightening up the muscles as required.
• Brings down the pain:
  It is a well-known fact that muscle fatigue can lead to a lot of pain after the workout sessions. But when you practice the stretching exercises, the muscles remain loose and less tense, thus reducing the chances of cramps or overall pains in the tissues.
• Improves your body posture:
  Sometimes, even heavy exercises are not able to give you the benefits that you may enjoy with much more uncomplicated and light tasks. One such benefit is the improvement in body posture. By practicing the stretching exercises, your body posture improves drastically, bringing in an increase even in your overall appearance.

Select the exercise that suits you

Just like the other exercises, there are various kinds of stretching available, and you may include the ones based upon the activities that you are likely to take up next. Further, you may also go by the hit and trial method. In this process, you may try out each type of exercise for a few days and then finally select the ones that seem to be working best for you.

Type of stretching exercise that you must try

Here are some stretching exercises that you should try:

• Dynamic stretching
  In dynamic stretching, the training consists of a progressive range of motions in each set. So for a footfall match, you may do ten leg swings at the waist height followed by ten leg swings at the chest height. If you are used to doing hefty exercises, then you may also include some leg swings of the head height as well. However, do not force yourself to go beyond the body’s capacity. You may go on progressively increasing on the count or the extent to which you stretch. The idea behind the dynamic exercise is that it mimics the kind of heavy training that you may do. So, if you are working with bars, you may start working with bars of the lightest weight. Thus your muscle gets prepared, and it prevents any muscular injury.
• Deep tissue massage
  Deep tissue massage helps to relieve muscle stiffness. One great way of getting it done the DIY way is by adopting foam rollers and lacrosse balls. It will refresh your body and prepare you to give your best during the time spent in the gym.
• Static stretches
  Among the flexing exercises, many static stretches improve the ability of your body to a great extent. What is more, to do these exercises, you do not need to increase the amount of time that you spend in the gym. Some of the basic exercises take as little as 15 seconds on each side for each set. However, the number of times that you would like to do depends entirely upon your discretion.

Some of the static stretches that you may try out include

Tricep Stretch:

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In standing position, bring one arm behind your back by bending at the elbows. Use the other hand to push the bent arm further towards the back of the neck, thus stretching the back of the bent arm (the triceps).

Shoulder Stretch:

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Keep one arm across the body. The free arm will hook underneath this arm and stretch it inside towards the chest. Repeat it with the other arm.

Quad Stretch:

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In standing position, you need to bend the leg backward. Use hands to pull the foot to your backside

Hip Flexor Stretch:

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With both knees on the ground, plant one foot on the ground, keep hands on the hips and try to stretch the upper body forwards. This will stretch the leg whose knee is still on the ground.

Single leg Hamstring Stretch:

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Sit on the ground with knees bent up. Keep one leg straight. The other heel of the other leg should touch the inner thigh of the leg that is straight. Now, bend forward and try to touch the toes of the leg kept straight.

Glute Stretch:

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For this, you need to lie on your back and bend knees. Take the left leg and rest it on the left knee. Now your hands should reach for the back of the left leg and pull it towards the chest. Repeat this with the right leg afterward.

These post-workout stretch routines help improve recovery time by combating the build-up of lactic acid.

Learn from the Best

It is clear from the above that including stretching exercises is of great importance, especially before trying out the heavy exercises to avoid any injury. But picking out the right technique from the magazines or the video tutorials may be tricky and lead to complications. That is why it is always advisable to learn the exercises from the experts at a gym or fitness studio so that you can derive the maximum benefit out of it.

If you are looking for a good fitness training centre and start with proper mobility postures and workouts, then Gymscope is the right place for you. We bring to you a wide array of fitness studios with their features and offerings to help you compare from the different options. The extensive listing of gyms near you will help you reach your specific fitness goals.