Monday, January 12, 2009

Avoid Injury with these 5 Muscle Stretching Tips

By Torri Tompson

If you're going to be using a treadmill to burn fat and lose weight, then you'll want to make sure that you stretch your muscles before you begin. Stretching is important because it prevents injuries that could impede your performance.

Ideally, you will stretch right before you begin to walk on your treadmill and again afterwards. Stretching before your workout will help with your flexibility, and stretching afterward will also help prevent injury.

Here are my top tips to help you avoid damaging your muscles while exercising:

1. Never stretch until it hurts! The majority of people think that there's 'no gain without pain'. This is never the case - you should only ever stretch to a position that is comfortable for you, and then hold this position for about 20 seconds.

2. Breathe through your stretches. Some people hold their breath during their stretch routines, but when you practice deep breathing exercises, it helps you perform a deeper stretch for your muscles.

3. Many people see the stretching as a warm up, but it's really important that your muscles are actually warmed up before you stretch, so always walk or jog for a few minutes to get blood flowing to your muscles.

4. A warm bath or shower and a stretch are excellent ways to end an exercise session. The warm water of the bath or shower will help to relax your muscles and the stretching will help avoid injury and will feel great!

5. Never bounce while you are stretching. You may have seen athletes on TV do this, but it is very dangerous because instead of stopping injuries you could actually cause yourself serious harm.

The most important muscles that you need to stretch are not always your leg muscles. Of course, it is important to stretch your calf muscles, quadriceps, and hamstrings, but you also need to stretch her shoulders, abs, neck, and back. Believe it or not, walking on a treadmill provides a full body workout.

Don't just bend over and hang, trying to touch your toes. Add some additional stretches, such as the splits, lunges, and calf stretches where you stand on the edge of a step or curb and drop your heels to the point right before it becomes uncomfortable.

Keeping your movements slow and precise will give you the best results, in fact by keeping some tension in your muscles you will be sure to get the most from your stretching exercises. It is really important that you remember to stop stretching before it becomes uncomfortable though. - 17995

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