Why We Must Stretch Before & After Exercise!

Athletes under the age of 30 can easily perform without much preparation. If they have 30 minutes to run, they run for 30 minutes. Muscles seem to tolerate the stresses of workouts, races, and games; therefore, the need to do more seems to be worthlessly unimportant.

The truth is that preparation, even as a youngster, is not only necessary, but critical. The duration and level of achievement is ultimately directly related to the amount of warm up and preparation done on a continual basis throughout the formative years. Muscles, like overall health, improve over time. To educate and condition young muscles properly, with a consistent and thorough warm-up, makes radical differences in adulthood.

Unfortunately, our entire educational system is based on doing something only after a crisis has arisen. We're backpedaling when we need to be strategizing. The offensive approach has to occur on the individual level. Here's my point; You Must Stretch

For maximum everything, from performance to injury prevention to injury recovery, you need to stretch. If you don't, you're limiting your capacity. Without starting with a stretch, you may end up paying sports doctors looking for the magic cure or taking time off for injuries that only exist because you're unwilling to do what it takes, as in stretching.

These 4 components are necessary for peak muscular response:

Stretching
There is nothing magical about stretching. All you have to do is hit that switch in your brain that will allow you to be consistent and disciplined.

Strengthening
Strengthening naturally occurs as hill and speed work are done, but for total and improved conditioning, a weight-training program adds to any running program. Also, muscles that are not primary muscles in the running gait, such as side-to-side muscles, don't gain the strength that front-to-back muscles have in running. Needless to say, those muscles that are primary can gain even greater strength through a weight-training program. Finally, the stronger the upper body muscles are, the more glycogen storage and ultimate energy your body produces for runs and workouts.

Eating "Clean"
By this I mean, what we put into our bodies effects how our bodies react to certain physical situations, like exercising. If you are eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, you are not only keeping your muscles hydrated properly but the phyto-nutrients continue to protect the muscle tissue as they are literally ripped when we exercise. As our bodies natuarlly repair itself more fibers grow to strengthen the areas that were just "torn" - hence, giving you a stronger more toned body. I also recommend lots of fish that are high in Omega fatty acids, as the fatty acids help keep your muscles and joints more flexible.

Supplementing
The body-building sports nutrition industry has become a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Do runners not have specific nutritional needs? If you run, you lose minerals with exercise, with improper nutritional intake, and with alcohol and caffeine consumption. Minerals make a major difference in keeping a muscle healthy and strong.

Conclusion
Pay now or pay later. I blew out my back a year ago after squatting weight without stretching. It was a hard lesson since I am still experiencing occasional soreness as a result. After learning the important of proper preparation, including stretches and good nutrition, I feel stronger, faster, and better.