To stretch your lower back and hamstrings, a simple stretch to start with can be the sitting hamstring stretch. First, sit on the floor as you stretch out both your legs. Then, take turns bending one leg in at a time and stretching forward towards the leg that is extended. Switch sides and hold each for 30 to 45 seconds.

Remember the act of stretching should not hurt! Lean forward just enough to feel a small pull in your target areas. Using the overhead tricep stretch is a great way to stretch your triceps and lats. To execute this stretch, put one arm overhead and grasp you overhead with the opposite hand.

From this position, pull your elbow back towards your head and hold for seconds on each side. A favorite stretch among runners is a lunge with an added quad stretch.

This targets your hip flexors and quads. To successfully do this stretch, lunge forward with one knee bent over your foot and the over knee resting on the ground as you extend your back leg.

Reach back and grab your back foot and pull forward to feel the stretch. Switch sides as you hold each position for seconds. The Importance of Stretching A common misconception is that stretching is only for athletes or those who are very active.

Here are a few more benefits of stretching: Injury Prevention: One of the most significant benefits of stretching is injury prevention.

When muscles are well-stretched, they become more flexible and resilient, reducing the likelihood of injuries during physical activities. Stretching prepares the muscles and joints for the movements they will perform, making them less prone to overextension and tears.

Mental Health Benefits: The benefits of stretching go beyond the physical. It can also be a powerful tool for mental health. Incorporating stretching into your routine, especially when combined with mindful breathing, can significantly reduce stress levels.

Improved Posture and Balance: Regular stretching can also help improve posture and balance. By lengthening tight muscles that pull areas of the body away from their intended position, stretching helps maintain proper posture and balance, which is particularly important as we age. Enhanced Performance: For athletes and fitness enthusiasts, stretching is crucial for enhancing performance.

It increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles, improving strength and endurance. Dynamic Stretching: Dynamic stretching involves active movements where muscles go through their full range of motion.

These are particularly beneficial as part of a warm-up routine as they help to increase blood flow and muscle temperature, preparing the body for physical activity.

Examples include arm circles, leg swings, and lunges. Static Stretching: Static stretching involves extending a muscle to its furthest point and then holding that position for a period of time. Functional Stretching: This type of stretching focuses on improving functional movements necessary for daily activities and sports performance.

It helps to enhance coordination and muscle control. Functional stretches often mimic the movement patterns of the activity or sport you are preparing for.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation PNF : PNF stretching combines passive and isometric stretching to achieve maximum static flexibility. When and How to Stretch Integrating stretching into your daily routine can be done at any time of the day. How Can You Incorporate Stretching Into Daily Life?

Here is a look at a few practical and easy-to-implement strategies for including stretching exercises in your daily routine, ensuring that you can enjoy the benefits of increased flexibility, reduced muscle tension, and enhanced overall well-being, no matter where you are or what you do: At Home: Simple stretches can be seamlessly incorporated into your daily routine at home.

While watching TV, try seated leg stretches, or neck and shoulder stretches. In the kitchen, use the countertop for support while doing calf stretches or standing quadriceps stretches. At Work: For office workers, incorporating stretching into the workday can help alleviate muscle stiffness and improve concentration.

Shoulder shrugs, wrist stretches, and leg extensions can be done even while seated at your desk. For Athletes: Athletes should focus on sport-specific stretches that prepare the body for the types of movements they will perform. This enhances performance and plays a crucial role in injury prevention.

For the Elderly: Older adults can benefit significantly from stretching exercises that focus on maintaining range of motion, balance, and coordination. Gentle yoga and tai chi are excellent options for incorporating stretching into their routine.

Start Stretching with Twin Boro! More Articles. Schedule an Appointment! Do you require transportation? Free transportation offered for patients within 1 mile our Hoboken location Yes No.

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When muscles are well-stretched, they become more flexible and resilient, reducing the likelihood of injuries during physical activities. Stretching prepares the muscles and joints for the movements they will perform, making them less prone to overextension and tears. Mental Health Benefits: The benefits of stretching go beyond the physical.

It can also be a powerful tool for mental health. Incorporating stretching into your routine, especially when combined with mindful breathing, can significantly reduce stress levels. Improved Posture and Balance: Regular stretching can also help improve posture and balance.

By lengthening tight muscles that pull areas of the body away from their intended position, stretching helps maintain proper posture and balance, which is particularly important as we age.

Enhanced Performance: For athletes and fitness enthusiasts, stretching is crucial for enhancing performance. It increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles, improving strength and endurance.

Dynamic Stretching: Dynamic stretching involves active movements where muscles go through their full range of motion.

These are particularly beneficial as part of a warm-up routine as they help to increase blood flow and muscle temperature, preparing the body for physical activity. Examples include arm circles, leg swings, and lunges. Static Stretching: Static stretching involves extending a muscle to its furthest point and then holding that position for a period of time.

Functional Stretching: This type of stretching focuses on improving functional movements necessary for daily activities and sports performance. It helps to enhance coordination and muscle control. Functional stretches often mimic the movement patterns of the activity or sport you are preparing for.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation PNF : PNF stretching combines passive and isometric stretching to achieve maximum static flexibility. When and How to Stretch Integrating stretching into your daily routine can be done at any time of the day.

How Can You Incorporate Stretching Into Daily Life? Here is a look at a few practical and easy-to-implement strategies for including stretching exercises in your daily routine, ensuring that you can enjoy the benefits of increased flexibility, reduced muscle tension, and enhanced overall well-being, no matter where you are or what you do: At Home: Simple stretches can be seamlessly incorporated into your daily routine at home.

While watching TV, try seated leg stretches, or neck and shoulder stretches. In the kitchen, use the countertop for support while doing calf stretches or standing quadriceps stretches. At Work: For office workers, incorporating stretching into the workday can help alleviate muscle stiffness and improve concentration.

Shoulder shrugs, wrist stretches, and leg extensions can be done even while seated at your desk. For Athletes: Athletes should focus on sport-specific stretches that prepare the body for the types of movements they will perform.

This enhances performance and plays a crucial role in injury prevention. For the Elderly: Older adults can benefit significantly from stretching exercises that focus on maintaining range of motion, balance, and coordination. Gentle yoga and tai chi are excellent options for incorporating stretching into their routine.

Start Stretching with Twin Boro! More Articles. Schedule an Appointment! Do you require transportation? Free transportation offered for patients within 1 mile our Hoboken location Yes No. We have 51 convenient locations We love being close to our patients.

Find out which of our premier facilities is nearest you! VIew a list of all locations. Powered By:. Close GDPR Cookie Settings. Powered by GDPR Cookie Compliance. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible.

Strictly Necessary Cookies Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. Enable or Disable Cookies. To execute this stretch, put one arm overhead and grasp you overhead with the opposite hand.

From this position, pull your elbow back towards your head and hold for seconds on each side. A favorite stretch among runners is a lunge with an added quad stretch.

This targets your hip flexors and quads. To successfully do this stretch, lunge forward with one knee bent over your foot and the over knee resting on the ground as you extend your back leg.

Reach back and grab your back foot and pull forward to feel the stretch. Switch sides as you hold each position for seconds. A stretch so easy our dogs can do it! The downward dog stretch targets areas like your calves and shoulders while releasing tension in the back.

To perform this stretch keep your legs straight, abs pulled in, and raise your glutes in the air. Remember to drop your head in order to straighten your spine and stretch your calves by lowering your heels close to the ground.

Just like the lunge with a quad stretch, assume a lunge position. Instead of reaching to grab your foot, bring your opposite arm over your head and slowly into the stretch. Tuck your hips by pulling in your stomach and you will feel a nice stretch in your hip flexors, quads, and obliques.

Here are 6 stretches to help you avoid injury and progress your running times Or maybe you're using your new-found time to increase your weekly km's Whatever your reason to be hitting the pavement during the lockdown, there's one thing we have in common; we all want to progress with our running times and improve our fitness whilst avoiding injury.

Without looking after your body correctly, running times will suffer and your risk of injury increases. Before we delve deeper into the six best stretches for runners, we must identify the most common injuries amongst runners.

A research study that assessed injuries in runners looked at 60 club-level runners over one year. The study found that there were 55 injuries sustained across 39 athletes, with short to medium distance runners being twice as likely to sustain an injury than long-distance runners. As you may expect, lower limb injuries were prevalent, with the muscles in this section of the body contracting the most when running.

Although there remains some contradiction on stretching, a recent study showed the effect stretching has on increasing flexibility and the compliance of muscle tendons; this increases the capacity of the tendon to absorb energy - a key role for the body when trying to prevent injury.

Regularly stretching can also help increase muscle pliability and reduce aching and pains in tight or problematic areas of the body. If you find yourself performing static stretches before running, it may well be time to change that habit.

A study published in showed a significant reduction in muscle force production and overall performance in runners who performed immediate pre-run static stretches, in comparison to those performing dynamic stretches.

So keep your warm-ups dynamic to prepare the muscles through replicating specific exercise movements, therefore helping to increase blood flow and prepare the body for running. What about static stretches? These can be utilised immediately post-exercise or during periods when you are not exercising - such as when you're watching the TV or during your morning flow.

According to Healthline , the benefits associated with regularly performing static stretches include:. The hip lunge exercise helps increase the flexibility and mobility of your hips and hip flexors, whilst leaning back into the hamstring stretch helps lengthen your hamstrings, back and calves - these are all areas of the body that are placed under immense stress when running.

Utilising a flow such as this one targets your body in the anterior front and posterior back , helping to improve overall mobility in less time. A classic stretch for the quadriceps, the standing quad pull helps to alleviate tension and improve flexibilty along the front of your quad.

Tight quads and hamstrings can result in knee pain, so be sure to keep on top of these to help prevent future problems in your muscles, tendons and ligaments. To increase the stretch, apply a small amount of pressure, pulling your heel closer to your bottom.

The classic Pigeon Pose, with a unique twist. Moving from a single-leg downward dog position into the pigeon pose helps activate the glutes and stretch the hamstrings, before taking the pigeon pose position. The Pigeon Pose helps stretch the glutes, release the hips and improve overall hip flexibility.

Hold the pose for seconds before repeating the full flow on the other leg. The seated hamstring hold helps improve the flexibility of your hamstrings and lower back, and by placing some pressure on the bottom of your toes, you will also feel a stretch in the calf gastrocnemeus.

If you can't quite reach your toes, don't worry! Just slide your hands as far down your shins as you can comfortable go, alternatively you could use a towel or resistance band to loop around your feet! Put your right hand up on the wall, thumb facing up, at shoulder level.

Slowly rotate your trunk to the left until a stretch is felt. Hold this for 30 seconds. Repeat this on the left. Cobra Stretch This is a great stretch once your lower back is warm and loose, as it will engage your mid-spine, chest and abdominal muscles, and hip flexors.

Lie face down, with your hands underneath your shoulders. Extend your arms by pushing your upper body away from the floor. Try to keep your pelvis as close to the floor as possible. Hold this for about seconds. Then rotate your head in one direction and hold for seconds, then rotate your head in the other direction and hold for another seconds.

Look at Bridge Athletic's video below for a better understanding. Reach behind and grasp both hands behind you. Pull your shoulders back and shoulder blades together. Lift your hands away from you with arms straight.

Hamstring Oblique Stretch This is the final stretch that should help with your back, hamstrings and obliques. Sit on the floor with one leg facing at a degree angle with your other leg bent in and your heel touching your groin. Your legs should look like a capital L.

Make your hand one with the same side as the extended leg touch that foot. Then hinge your torso and other hand, over your head towards the same leg. Make sure you don't fall forward but stretch in the direction towards that extended leg.

Hold for about seconds. Repeat but now switch it around, stretching the other side. Again a fantastic video on how to do this by Bridge Athletic. MORE ON NUTRITION. Why increasing food prices doesn't have to mean sacrifices. What Should I Use in my Daily Protein Shake, Milk or Water?

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