I have always had a passion for dance, and as many of you probably know, flexibility is greatly involved in the activity. Now, I won’t claim to be made of rubber, because I’ll be honest, I’m not as flexible as I should be, but over the last couple of years, in my search for knowledge, I’ve learned many techniques for stretching routines.

If you do yoga on a regular basis, then kudos to you! Yoga is both a great workout and a refreshing stretch, and it also helps you to have more awareness of your body. One program I suggest using is Yoga Download channel on YouTube. There are twenty minute sessions that get you warm, stretch you out, and give your muscles a good workout.

So, stretching. One of the first and foremost things to do before you stretch is to WARM UP. Even if it’s just a quick run or about five minutes of jumping jacks, you must warm up. If you don’t, you could end up in worse shape than you were before you stretched, especially if you’re doing an intense stretching routine. What happens when you stretch cold muscles is that you put a lot of strain on them when stretching, but because they are rigid and tight, they could potentially snap, resulting in a pulled or strained muscle. What that feels like, I’ve had the unpleasant experience on several occasions, is a strange pain, almost as if it needs to be popped back into place. If you’ve ever had this, or you ever do have this, you’ll understand. The best things to do is to not stretch that muscle. For example, I’ve pulled my right hamstring twice and my left hamstring once. So, to remedy, I did exercises to strengthen my hamstrings. The best one I’ve found is to lie down on your back with your knees bent, then lift your hips up and down about thirty times. Another thing I’ve done is used Epsom salts or Epsom salt lotion, and both work well to reduce pain and inflammation. You can either go to the store and purchase Epsom salt lotion, or you can make your own. I’ll tell you how to make it in another post in the Beauty section. Lastly, for a pulled muscle, ice and heat it. Apply a wrapped ice pack to the muscle for twenty minutes, then use heat for another ten minutes. If you have time, repeat, going back and forth between ice and heat.

On another note for warming up, it serves a purpose other than preventing injury. When you warm up before stretching, it actually makes your muscles more compliant. What I mean is that they will stretch more, thus making you even more flexible. Because your muscles are warm, they are also softer, and since they’re softer, they will allow you to stretch them further. The best analogy I’ve seen for this concept is a rubber band—when it’s cold, it snaps, when it’s warm, it becomes more flexible the more you stretch it.

Secondly, keep hydrated while stretching. I’ll note this quickly, but as you stretch, you’ll want to drink lots of water. This will help your muscles to not be so brittle, and serves as a lubricant to your joints.

As I stated earlier, stretching is most often seen in sports like dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading, where it is required to be somewhat if not extremely flexible. Stretching has more importance than that, though. Looking again at yoga, you can see that stretching can be used for fitness. When you stretch, you do indeed exert energy, and your muscles are working. I’ve heard of models who’s workouts include weight lifting and stretching. So, stretching can be beneficial in your fitness regimen as a way to burn calories. Also, stretching helps to keep you aligned and in touch with your body. Doctors and sports professionals always tell you to stretch, stretch, stretch—and it’s not a lie! Stretching keeps you energized, gets your blood pumping, helps your muscles and joints stay where they should, and it just makes you feel good. Who’s arguing with that?

So, those are some details on stretching. In further posts, I’ll give different routines, make suggestions, and give tips. So, keep in touch! And happy stretching!