Does Stretching Really Help Avoid Injuries?
Most of us can get away with skipping our stretches here and there and really not suffer any consequences.
Have you even said to yourself, “It’s just a walk” or maybe, “I’ll stretch when I get home” but then it never happens?
When we repeatedly forget to stretch or just don’t make the time to do so, our muscles becomes exponentially tighter (meaning shorter) over time and eventually it catches up to us.
I learned this the hard way on Saturday morning during my group power class when I strained a muscle in my back doing deadlift rows. I wasn’t using a heavier weight than usual but I had played 7 hours of pickleball in the past two days and “forgot” to stretch afterwards.
For the rest of the weekend I couldn’t do anything but ice my back and gently stretch, and I know better!
When we take even 5 minutes after working out to stretch, we bring our tight and shortened muscles back into a longer, relaxed position. This is important because it allows our bodies to move more easily and correctly.
When we have chronically tight muscles in our bodies, it creates numerous problems that inevitably lead to injuries:
Tight hamstrings cause pain in our back
Tight quads, adductors and abductors (inner and outer thigh muscles) create knee pain
Tight glutes and piriformis muscles create sciatica pain
Tight shoulders and trapezius muscles (upper back) lead to neck pain
There’s really no end to the possible injuries we can cause ourselves by not stretching. The hard part is that we often don’t believe it until it’s too late.
I know all of this and still got lazy and lost a whole weekend as a result. The good news is that I won’t do it again!
If you can hold a stretch for 30 seconds after you’ve done any type of exercise, this really helps the muscles to lengthen and return to their more relaxed position where they are able to work more effectively.
After a walk for example, stretching each quad (front top part of your leg), your calves (back bottom part of your leg) and your low back / hamstrings (top back part of your leg) literally takes 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
When you do this, you significantly reduce your risk of future injury and allow your body to move more efficiently.
The person who says, “I pulled my back out when I sneezed” had many tight muscles that went unstretched before that sneeze actually happened. It was simply the last thing the body could tolerate before the muscles seized up on the person.
Don’t wait until it’s too late and you lose a weekend, or longer. Let yourself stretch after using your muscles and keep them long and strong!
