Stretching is one of the best ways to increase mobility in your joints (preventing arthritis and pain), and also to improve blood flow, increase relaxation, and get rid of overall aches and pains.
But I often get asked so many questions about stretching- “How long should I hold the stretch?” “What time of day should I stretch?” “How often should I stretch?”
So I want to answer a bunch of those really important fundamental principles of stretching, and I want to tell you the 6 DON’Ts of stretching…
You can also click here to check out my video “The Top 3 Stretches You MUST Do, and the One You Need To AVOID At All Costs!”
1- Don’t stretch first thing in the morning: You need to at least get up and get going a bit. Why? When you first get up in the morning, your muscles are cold and stiff. If you stretch before you even get out of bed, you are very likely to injure yourself further! A good idea is to get up, take a hot shower, get dressed, and then stretch. The warmth from the steam and hot water is perfect to prepare your body for the stretching it needs.
2- Just like in the morning, don’t jump right into your stretching routine if you’ve been sitting still at your desk for hours. Your muscles need to be warmed up first, no matter what time of day it is. You can sometimes get away with skipping this step during summer months in a warm climate. But, be aware, if your muscles are cold, they’re more likely to tense up or tear. The walking exercises I recommend in my program “Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good” are an excellent way to get the blood flowing during the day, so you can start stretching after doing those.
3- Don’t let anyone else stretch you. YOU are the only person who can feel your limitations. It drives me nuts when I see a sports coach go down the line and push on someone’s back to get the person to stretch deeper. Talk about asking for trouble! There are some professionals with years of training who have a feel for what they’re doing—they know how to stretch someone safely and properly, which is the exception. But, as a general rule, unless you’re hiring a professional to work on you, always do your own stretching. Period.
4- This leads into the next important point: Don’t overdo it when you are stretching! Always remember that stretching needs to be therapeutic. It should feel relaxing, not painful. If you are stretching to the point of causing pain, you are probably stretching too aggressively and need to back off. Some slight discomfort is okay, but know your limits—and don’t go beyond them.
5- Don’t stretch too often, especially when first starting out. It may not seem like much, but you CAN actually over do it when you’re stretching. Whether it’s going too deep into the stretch or stretching too often, you do need to be careful. When first starting out, I recommend doing 2-3 sets of each stretch twice a day. And you can do this up to every day if you want. After about a week or 2, as you feel more comfortable- your body gets used to it and you can up it to 3 sets 3 times a day. Always listen to your body and back off if needed, but this is a good general guideline to follow.
6- Don’t just hold your stretches for 5 or 10 seconds. To benefit from stretching, you need to hold your stretches for the right amount of time. How long is that? Whenever you do a static (holding) stretch, you want to hold it for 45 seconds. 5 or 10 seconds isn’t going to do much good. These stretches need to be prolonged so that the muscles actually relax and proper biomechanics can be restored.
There you have it! I recommend starting a stretching routine as soon as possible so that you can increase your mobility and get more motion in those joints. To see where to get started, check out my video “The Top 3 Stretches You MUST Do, and the One You Need To AVOID At All Costs!”
