First off, I am no expert. What I do know is from what I have read, learned, and experienced first-hand. We are all individuals with different fitness goals and different starting flexibility, so you may find other stretching techniques to be more appropriate for you. It all comes down to what your body feels comfortably doing, i.e. stretching should never be painful!
There are a handful of different "kinds" of stretching, but the main two are static and dynamic stretching. I do both, with static being the most prominent in my routine. There are people who believe that it is better to do dynamic only, and they may be right... for some people. My focus is on increasing my flexibility substantially, and static stretching is better suited for that. If you are looking to just maintain your flexibility or to increase it enough for a full range-of-motion in your exercises, just dynamic stretching should be fine. It all goes back to what I said before: different things work for different people.
A significant difference between static and dynamic stretching is when to do them. You can do dynamic stretches as a warm-up or before a work-out. Static stretches, on the other hand, should be done only after a warm-up or a work-out. Put them all together and this is how a simple stretching routine would look: dynamic stretching, warm-up/work-out, static/dynamic stretching.
What I do:
- A few minutes of dynamic stretching (back, chest stretches and small lunges) to prevent stiffness in the warm-ups.
- 30 minutes of warm-ups (running, jogging and, yes, hula hooping :p) to warm up the core. Body temperature plays a HUGE role when it comes to stretching and flexibility. There is a reason why there is such a thing as "hot yoga", where people practice in rooms of 100+ degree heat. Higher body temp = more loosened muscles = more stretching. So with that in mind, do some serious stretching indoors if it is a cold day out!
- 1.5-2 hours of static stretching (40 min for splits, 40 min for back bends and 40 min for handstand/forearm-stand/conditioning). The emphasis of these stretches is on back flexibility, which is what I am getting asked about most. Obviously the general person is not going to need to stretch for this long lol, but the more time you put into it, the more flexibility you will maintain and gain. In general though, 10-15 min of simple static stretching should be fine.
For back flexibility, the best ways to increase it are:
The Cobra Pose
The Bow Pose
And the Bridge Pose
- I stretch every day. The general person can get by doing it maybe 3 times a week, although I would say that you should do it every day that you work out! It is good for your muscles. And you have to stretch on a regular basis to maintain whatever flexibility you gain. There have been a few times where I did not stretch for 3-4 days or even a whole week, and you bet I lost some flexibility in just that short span of time! Just like any other aspect of fitness, good flexibility requires commitment.
One other thing that can affect stretching and flexibility is eating food high in potassium (my favorite being bananas). They will help prevent muscle cramping.
So... I think that about sums it up. Hope this answered some questions and won some people over to do stretching exercises!
♥ Bambi
