Streeeeetch: hurts so good

Alrighty fellow health-nerds. Let's talk about that thing that we all pretend to do but never actually spend time doing:

STRETCHING

Back in my ballet golden days, I stretched every day...but then this thing called laziness happened. oops.

So why should we stretch?
1. to avoid injury
2. to improve your sport of choice

Stretching your muscles, tendons, and ligaments more flexible. Think about it--I'll use dancing as an example (I wonder why...): Okay, so you are in the middle of performing or competing or just social dancing and you go to try a new move that involves a deep back bend. Then all of a sudden "@#$*!#$&"--crazy bad pain starts shooting in your back. It's probably because you tried to bend your back farther than you should have because it is not flexible enough.

Life Lesson by AntiUnhealthy #1: You stretch more--you bend more.

As for the second reason, stretching obviously helps improve your sport of choice because it enables you to complete more strenuous tasks. No need to explain this one, I hope.

So a few pressing questions:
1. When should we stretch?
2. How long should we stretch?
3. What types of stretches should we do?

1. Muy importante! It is a common misconception that we should use stretching as our warm-up or do it first thing. Nooooooooo sirry. False. Negative. Stop it. You should stretch with warrrrrrrrrrrrm muscles. Walk for a few minutes, then stretch, then exercise. Or use stretching to end your cooldown. Your muscles are still warm from the activity so they are able to stretch deeper. Think of your muscles like a rod of metal (only not as strong of course). In order for welders to bend rods into different shapes, they have to heat them first so they are more malleable. Your muscles should be shown a similar kindness--warm them up so they can stretch easier and don't tear. (Okay, that might have been a poor example...you guys know what I mean though!)

2. Most sources say stretch for 5-10 minutes. When I do actually stretch, I stay closer to the 5 minute side. To help make this time go quicker without getting bored, do your stretches near a tv or while one of your top 5 jam-out songs is on your iPod. It helps distract you from the boredom.

Check out this MayoClinic article for more information on this topic.

3. It depends on the part of the body. Here is a link to the Stretching Injury Clinic website showing excellent stretches for multiple parts of the body.

CAUTION: Don't overstretch! How? By listening to your body. But my body doesn't talk. Shut up.

There is a difference between stretching and pain. If you feel straight up pain, stop immediately. Stretching should HURT SO GOOD, not hurt so bad--kinda like a massage. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments are very complex and interesting tissues. Maybe in another post, I'll go into the anatomy and physiology of how they actually work to provide further insight.