Stretching

Do you know you the difference between of dynamic and static stretching? Well, if you're a runner or an athlete, then you probably do, if not, then you probably don't know. For you who don't know I'll write about the difference and give a few examples. First off I'll describe dynamic stretching because that's what you should do first.

Dynamic stretching you do right after (or part of) a warm up. Warm ups and dynamic stretching are very important for injury prevention. Warm ups are things such as high knees, jumping jacks, rope skippers (like rope skipping without a rope), and jogging. Once you spend 3-10 minutes of warming up you should do some dynamic stretching. To do dynamic stretching you have to do reps and not hold the stretch for long. You usually only do these on your leg muscles. Your arms don't go through as much strain so they don't really need them.

My first example of a dynamic stretch is leg swings. For these all you have to do is find a solid object like a wall or fence and brace yourself on it, then with one foot planted on the floor and swing your other foot back and forth parallel to the wall or fence. You can do this two ways. I recommend both. One way you can face the wall is with your face to the wall, swinging your leg in front of you you. When you do this you should feel a brief stretch in your hip and groin muscle areas. The other way is when you have your side to the fence or wall and you're swinging your leg in front of you then in back of you. This should stretch your hamstring, glute, quad and maybe even some back).

My next example is the lunge/spiderman. This one you start standing, then lunge forward, knees at 90 degree angles. Once you're there lean back for a second or two. This stretches the quad. Then try and bring your elbow that is on the same side as your front leg to your heel or ankle on the front foot. Hold for a second or two. This stretches the groin and a little bit of your hip flexers. When you're done with that bring your torso back up from there and straighten your front leg and pull your toes up and push on your thigh while leaning slightly forward. This should stretch your hamstring, and if you're not very flexible (like me) this should stretch your calf as well. Once you completed this repeat the entire thing on the other side. Do this about 10 times (5 on each side).

There are many, many other dynamic stretches... if you want get more, then comment. I know a few more, which is all I really need.

Now, static stretching. This is something you do after working out or competing in a sport. Only do this if you muscles are warm. If you're muscles are cold, then do a quick warm up so that they are warm and then stretch. Static stretching is to get help get rid of some lactic acid and will increase flexibility. In case you didn't know lactic acid makes you sore. So stretching afterward is good. To do a static stretch you can just hold the position that stretches for about 30 seconds. I don't really know alot of the names for static stretches, but I can tell you what muscle groups they stretch.

To stretch the calf muscle you can pretty much just pull on your toes and the balls of your feet. To do a more intense stretch find a wall and place your ball of your foot on it and then lean forward with your knee straight. To stretch more of the lower part of the calf bend your knee and bring it towards the wall.

The shin muscle doesn't always need stretching, but if you feel tightness there, then you should stretch it. To do so, with one leg's shin to the ground, then sit down on it. Don't put all your weight on it because you could pull it, or strain tendons in your ankle. Slow put more weight on it, until you can just sit on it. If you have had ankle injuries before then this might not work that well because your ankle isn't flexible enough.

Now for the quad. This one is easy. To start stand up and bring a leg up behind you and grab it's ankle with your hand. Don't grab the toe. That's a good way to hurt your ankle. Once you have that pull your leg back (parallel to your other leg) and pull forward at the same time with your leg. Try and hold for 30 seconds. This could be hard if you don't have the best balance.

The hamstring! This muscle is easy to pull, but needs to be flexible. So to stretch it do the basic touch your toes. Yup. That's it. You can do this standing or siting. Just make sure you keep your legs straight. If you can't touch your toes, then slowly work on it. A good way to get farther is to reach as far as you can, hold when you inhale, and reach a little farther when you exhale. When you inhale again try your best to keep your hand where it is, and then go farther then you exhale again.

Now for the weirder muscles (by the way, there is no red line under the word "weirder"). One is the groin. To stretch this your need to do a butterfly. The way you do one of those is to sit or squat down with your feet together or right next to each other, your knees should be bent in as far as they can go. Now place your hand on your right next to your feet and with your elbows push your knees apart. You should feel the stretch easily, unless you're very flexible.

Ok, the glute. To stretch this all you have to do is sit down and hug your knee/bent leg. Pull it pretty hard if you're flexible enough. Your other leg should be between your ankle and your hamstring, pretty relaxed.

Last, but not least! The hip flexer. Lay down, bend your right knee so that your foot is flat on the ground and relaxed. Then place your left ankle on your knee. Once you have that set up, pull your right leg towards your chest. Do this on both sides.

Now, once again there are many other ways to stretch most if not all your muscle groups. Comment if you want to know how to stretch one I didn't list.