When & Why to Stretch

Series Summary

There are many benefits to a routine of stretching exercises. Many people want to lose weight, and despite claims for quick fat burning pills and powders, the best way to lose weight is still through proper diet and exercise. Exercise does more than just maintain physical fitness though. Working out can also help build healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility. It can also reduce your general health risks, boost the immune system, and help with depression and insomnia. Whether your reason for exercising is to lose weight, or improve muscle mass, working out is always a good idea to help promote the health of your body and mind.

In this free video series, our expert will show you how to do full body stretching, which is essential for your workout routine. Visiting each part of the body separately, our expert will show you how to improve your health and flexibility with these important stretches. You will learn how to do calf stretches, hamstring stretches, glut stretches and lower back stretches. You will also get tips on abdominal stretches, pectoral stretches and shoulder stretches. If your workout leaves you feeling sore and tired, let our expert show you these full body stretches to improve your exercises.

Video Transcript

"It's very important to stretch after you workout. Some people like to stretch before a workout - I would say that's okay, but make sure that your muscles are warm before you stretch. That's essential. You can think of your muscles like taffy. When taffy is cold it's hard and it breaks. But when it's warm it stretches and it's very flexible, and that's the same with our muscles. So we always want to make sure that our body is warm before we stretch. You can incorporate these moves, these stretches that we are going to do after a workout, or after you've at least warmed up. Another thing that's important about stretching - it really increases your range of motion. The more that you stretch, if you find that you are not very flexible in one area, the more you stretch out and focus on that body part, that muscle, then the more you will notice that your range of motion will definitely increase. Also, stretching reduces your risk of injury. A lot of athletes or regular people, they stretch, and that's because the more you stretch, the more flexible your muscles are, and less prone you are to having injuries and having any sort of accidents. Also, stretching helps reduce soreness. After you workout and you've worked a particular muscle group, if you're feeling really sore, if you stretch after, then you'll feel less sore than you would other times. Also, like if you're feeling sore the day after a workout, warm up the muscle group and then just stretch it. Give it a nice stretch. Warming it up doesn't have to be anything major, it can be something really simple. Just something to warm the muscle and then stretch it. So that will definitely help you in all areas."