Stretches to Use in Your Next Workout to Prevent Injury
Stretching is an important part of any workout and is used to prevent injury and increase flexibility. As the body gets older, tissue has less elastic so it is important to include stretching into workouts to prevent injuries. Jane Clauss talks with Sean Armstead with Phenomenal Fitness about stretches to prevent injury in your next workout.
Stretching helps de-age the body and works to elongate muscles, promote healing, prevent injury, and increase flexibility. It is important to include functional stretching in your workout by simply moving your body. Stretching can increase your range of motion which will allow your body to move more freely and easily through a workout. It is important to target the areas that you will be using during the work out, like targeting the hamstrings for a run.
Other examples of stretches that help prevent injury are arm circles, leg swings and walking lunges.
1-Arm Circles
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and extend one arm out at a time to the side. Make large circles with your arms going forward and then reversing it backwards. This motion is great for warming up the chest, shoulders, back, and arms.
2-Leg Swings
Stand with your feet hip width apart and swing one leg forward and backward. Once finished with one leg, reverse it to the other leg. This exercise is great for warming up the legs, hips, and knees.
3-Walking Lunges
A great way to warm up the quads, hamstrings, and calves is to do walking lunges. Simply drop into a lunge position and step back into the starting position and keep repeating it. It is important to keep the back straight and make sure the weight is balanced between both feet.
These stretches are great for warming up certain areas of the body and can be used to make your next workout more successful. It can help prevent injury, increase flexibility, while promoting healing.
Jane is a trusted voice when it comes to health, wellness, medicine, and fitness. As the long-time host of Living Healthy TV she’s interviewed the best experts in the world of health and wellness to bring the story to you.
