The importance of stretching to prevent injuries in winter and get the results you crave!

We've all been guilty of it, pumping out a great workout, feeling fantastic (or ruined - depends on the goal), race straight to the showers, straight to work and SIT on our butts all day!  

Then two days later wonder "damn I feel ridiculously sore from that workout and my muscles are stupidly tight….better not go to the gym." 

Stretching is often the most important part of a workout.  That’s not a typo, it really is vital to maintaining an injury free and results driven performance program, whether you’re trying to lose weight, gain muscle or just overall fitness. Not stretching can lead to increased pain after a workout, making us not want to workout again, and losing our consistent workout streak. 

A good stretching programme after your workout can make all the difference!

However, paying a personal trainer to get you to stretch for a decent amount of time can often cut into your actual workout time, or drive the session time (and the $$) way up.

Stretching isn’t hard, but you do have to be smart about it.

Here’s some equipment you will need:

A mat (chances are your butt is sore enough from all the lunging you just did, am I right?)

A stretchy rubber strap (you can get them for less than $10 from Rebel or your local physio) or just use a skipping rope

A towel

A foam roller (these will usually be in the dumbbell/kettlebell/swissball area of the gym) otherwise you can pick them up from Rebel, a physiotherapist or even Clark Rubber (cheap and nasty but gets the job done)

A small ball ( a tennis ball or cricket ball will do the trick)

The main spots most of us need to stretch are:

pecs (chest), quads (front of thighs), hams (back of thighs), glutes (bum) and back….

Pecs (minor – the ones directly in front of your armpit and towards your midline and major – from below your collarbone to your sternum, across your nipples and down to the bottom of your chest)

           

·   Vital for pulling our shoulders back and keeping that great posture you’ve worked so hard for.

·     Especially important for guys after chest day, nobody wants that gorilla back!

Pecs stretch

This one is great for your pec minor, to relieve tightness and pulling your shoulders back… 

walk into a corner of a room and face it. Put your arms on either side and "push" your way out. 

Here's some more stretches...

For those of use that work a lot at a desk or drive continuously, this stretch is vital and should be done as often as possible to avoid bad posture (that hunched over look)

 

This works well when done behind your back as well. 

Glutes and hip flexors

These are your butt muscles (glutes) and your hip flexors are in the front directly in front of your hip (these are in the crease of our hip if we sit down)

The issue is with most of our lifestyles, we sit all day in some degree

·        Sit in the car or the train on the way to work

·        Sit at our desks

·        Sit at lunch

·        Sit on the loo

     You get the gist…

As a result our bodies are constantly in “triple flexion”, and we also lean and reach forward  = bad posture!

This gives us tight hip flexors (bad) and weak ass glutes! (really bad!) leading to…

·        

•      Bad posture
•      Lower back pain
•      Upper back pain
•      Weak core 
•      Increased injuries
•      Weight gain
•      A flat bum
• 
  

No wonder sitting is the new smoking!

Quads (front of your thighs) and hamstrings (back of your thighs)

These BIG muscle groups are vital to stretch as it decrease soreness and increases mobility and range of motion through our knees and hips as your quads and hamstrings directly influence these joints.

Plus stretching both with a towel or skipping rope and rolling it out with a foam roller, ensure the muscle stays long and supple and not tight and short (ah leg day, day after 3cm long hamstrings!).

Here’s some great moves to get these muscles groups stretched out:

And finally…..

A word on foam rolling  (or Self-myofascial release if you want to get fancy)

·      

    Always roll towards the heart (you can crush little tiny blood vessels if you    roll back and forth, creating blood pooling = more pain and inflammation the next day!)

·        Never roll over joints – just don’t. That is all.

·      

       You are going to roll over tight spots that damn near bring tears to your eyes. Stop on that spot and hold it. And cry if you need to. But hold it anyway, at least for 20-30 seconds

If you want a run down about some particular stretches or foam rolling techniques, feel free to come and ask in the gym or contact me for a session that’s specific to you and your needs!

Here’s a great article onbreakingmuscle.com that breaks foam rolling down further…

  

And an article via The Artof Manliness, with lots of pictures for pretty much every foam rolling exercise you haven’t thought of!

Happy stretching! 

- Ash 

images from: 

 http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/flexibility-exercises.html

http://sph.sagepub.com/content/4/4/293/F2.large.jpg

 http://www.womensheart.org/images/cv05J.gif

Keep up the results and the motivation during winter!

Keep up the results and the motivation during winter!

Now that it’s starting to get a little chilly, the last thing you want to do is roll out of bed at 6am and hit the gym. Or fit in a quick workout on the way home when a hot dinner and passing out on the lounge sounds way more tempting!

My name’s ASH and Here’s my 5 hot tips to keep your results up and motivation high while the temperature drops this winter…

11.     Always have your gym clothes ready to go, and keep them somewhere warm.

Even pop them in the dryer while you’re in the shower, or wear them to bed (if you're that    desperate!)

22.     Have a really good warm up

When our muscles and joints are cold we are more prone to injury and strains. To get the most out of your workout make sure you warm up well before and cool down and stretch afterwards.

Here’s a great interval style workout to get you warmed up and ready!

Choose your weapon of torture (treadmill, x-trainer, rower, stairs, a hill on the way to the gym….)

30 seconds easy pace, 30 seconds hard out, 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard…repeat till you get warm!

I find the x trainer and the rower great for this as it puts our bodies through movements we will actually use!

33.     Keep up the good work with your nutrition!

There’s no point living on green smoothies and poached chicken salad in summer, only to replace it with heavy pastas and hot chocolates during winter. Don’t undo all your good work! You can still have comfort food just trick it up with healthy alternatives! Instead of hot chocolate have tea, and “crowd out” with lots of hearty veggie cassseroles and light curries so you’ve got no room to eat crappy food. We can use winter to build muscle and strength by eating a bit more, but that doesn’t mean you have to go overboard (“I’m Bulking” doesn’t give you a license to induce heart disease and obesity over winter…)

Boil veggies (my favourite is pumpkin and sweet potato or cauliflour and leek) add some protein (chicken or lean bacon), add water, stock, herbs and blend! Easy, yummy SOUP!

(If you need the carbs serve with a side of wholemeal brown toast or brown rice.)

44.     Plan out your workouts the night before, or better yet save yourself the time and get a personal trainer to do it for you!

Planning out an effective workout programme helps you stay on pointe with your goals and results. Plus it gets you in and out of the gym quicker, meaning you can have a bit of a sleep in, WINNING!

Plan for a months worth of workouts, and have a small goal at the end of each week (e.g. lift heavier, run further), with a big one at the end!

55.     Plan a little reward each time you hit a goal

That’s not an excuse to have a gigantic cheat meal (like The Rock), I mean schedule a massage, make a new workout playlist, make a great HEALTHY meal, go the movies, get some fresh new Nikes….

The options are there, just make them good ones, don’t reward yourself for having a great workout week by ruining your consistent efforts!

There you have it, keep up the great work!  - Ash J 

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