Simple stretches go a long way
Improve flexibility, avoid injury with quick, easy stretches
By Michelle Milan, December 2011
Staff Writer
Do you ever feel like you are 20 going on 80? Your whole body feels tight all the time, you have no energy, you feel weak and constantly tired? The average college student endures many hours of sitting at a desk, hunched over, whether at school, at home doing homework, or at work. Most students lead sedentary lifestyles because they don’t have the time to exercise or even stretch, which can lead to complications in your muscles.
Lack of stretching makes you feel old and stiff and increases the chance of injury. Injuries can be over silly things such as “bending over to pick up a sock,” says David Authement, a Pilates and Gyrotonic instructor at Kinesphere Studio in Phoenix . Healthy, simple stretching doesn’t have to be a complicated, time-consuming activity in your busy, stressful life.
Slawomir Wozniak, p rinciple b allet dancer of the National Opera in Warsaw, Poland, and b allet instructor and owner of Master Ballet Academy in Phoenix, explains that our muscles will keep the position we are in. Sitting at a computer, causes them to get shorter and shorter.
“Little kids are so flexible, and as you age and become busy with daily things— sitting at the computer or in your car every day — you become less and less flexible,” says Wozniak.
Wozniak advises that the best time to stretch is in the morning and at night. Stretching in the morning can improve circulation and wake up your whole body and “not just your mind.” Stretching at night can give you better and more comfortable sleep, says Wozniak.
According to Authement, stretching every day allows us to maintain a healthy range of motion. It increases blood circulation, balance, and effects postural correction, and an overall sense of well-being . It also helps remove toxins from our blood stream.
“I could come up with tons of positive effects stretching has,” says Authement. “We are like a biological pump, movement keeps our bodies going.”
Ben Johnson, a physical therapist from Foothills Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Centers in Phoenix , says that stretching is important because people can develop muscle imbalances causing them to work unnecessarily hard.
Spinal flexibility is the most important because over time, you lose the ability to rotate your back first. If you lose that ability, the injuries to the back can be more severe than to any other part of your body. We all have stretch reflexes that are meant to protect us from injury, but they can also often be the cause of injury. If you’ re doing something that your body doesn’t like (for instance, bending too far to pick something up) your stretch reflexes will tense up trying to protect you, but in the end that reflex can cause you to pull a muscle, according to Authement and Wozniak. If you stretch your back every day, you can decrease your chances of injuring yourself over simple tasks.
Some simple stretches don’t even take much out of your day. Johnson encourages people who do not normally stretch, to stretch at least three times a day, doing three sets of holding the stretch for 30 seconds. Most don’t even require you to leave your desk!
Remember, “A good stretch is held for 10 to 30 seconds,” says Matthew Pickering, a physical therapist technician from Foothills Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Centers. Here are some of the most simple and important stretches you want to do every day to begin to feel better:
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| Spinal Rotation |
Spinal Rotation: You can do this stretch while sitting in a chair at school, work or home. R otate your back while holding on to the chair and twist to each side. Another way is to lie on the ground and spiral your legs over on each side, while your head faces opposite your legs. Lastly, arching your back at a desk will help you feel better after being hunched over all the time.
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| Forward Flexion |
Forward Flexion at Hip: This means touching your toes. T he catch with this stretch is that you don’t want to focus on touching your toes, because you will naturally round your back which can be dangerous. Instead, focus on getting your pelvis to hinge on your femurs, says Authement. In other words, make your back as straight as possible, then bend forward without forcing yourself to touch your toes.
Beginners may want to sit in a chair and hold something for support, like a desk, and then just reach as far as you can while still sitting. Once you feel ready, you can move to the floor and touch your toes from a sitting position as your legs stretch straight in front of you. Eventually you can do it standing.
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| Calf Stretches |
Calf Stretches: You can do these stretches basically everywhere. Just find a wall, press your hands up against it, place one foot under you and bend it, and stretch the other out behind. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in your extended calf. Do this to each side throughout the day.
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| Quad Stretches |
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