Finally, we’ve reached stretching. I don’t have too much for this topic, though I thought I’d save it to the end since it provides good tips regardless of whether you’re weight training or running.
First things first: why stretch, anyway? I’ll be honest, I used to never stretch — it took too much time in a routine that I just wanted to get over with anyway. However, stretching provides a crucial thing: flexibility. Flexibility not only allows you to better perform certain exercise moves, but also lowers your risk of accidentally pulling an inflexible muscle. Put that way, it sounds like a pretty good thing to practice!
In the modern age, there are two preferred methods of stretching: foam rolling and yoga.
Foam rolling is pretty straight-forward. On certain crucial muscles, you roll a foam… well, roller (you can buy these, or make your own with something as simple as a metal pole or bottle) on them, releasing built up tension and helping to ease the muscle to become more flexible. I’m not an expert on foam rolling since it’s not my preferred stretching routine, so I recommend you check out this great resource for more details.
So what is my preferred stretching routine? Well, I’ve got to give it to yoga. Yoga is a fantastic all in one: it provides strength training, meditation, and stretching, all in one routine! My current routine consists of a rotation of HIIT one day and strength yoga the next. This seems to hit all the boxes I want to hit.
Alright, that’s all on fitness for now. Next week, we’ll be covering some general psychology tips. See you then!
Apalla 