There are so many advantages that come with stretching, especially before or after exercises. You become more flexible, you get relaxed, your range of motion is improved, and last but not least, your muscles and joints are more prepared for the next workouts.
All of these benefits will come only if you stretch in the right way. Unfortunately, sometimes you may not be able to avoid some mistakes when you are stretching, so stretching becomes ineffective and sometimes harmful.
The following are some of the most common stretching mistakes done and how you can fix them.
Forcing the Stretches
For a stretch to be helpful to your body, it should be done when one is relaxed. A lot of individuals always try to force the stretch, which can not only be unfriendly but can also cause muscle strains. There can also be muscle damaging which is very painful.
How to fix it: You should be attentive to your body when you are stretching. Sometimes stretching is not comfortable, but it should not be done to a point where you are feeling pain. Listen to your body and understand all of the signals.
Inadequate Stretching
This is something that many people do without their knowledge. They only do the exercises they think will lead to burning calories and they mostly forget to stretch enough or they skip stretching. What they don’t know is that stretching adequately helps one to perform the workouts better and also increase the range of motion.
How to fix it: Make sure to prioritize stretching, and if possible, make it part of the exercising program. Make sure to stretch before and after any workout.
Stretching Without Any Strengthening
Sometimes you may find yourself stretching so much, but the tightness is not improving in any way. In this case, it simply means you are not working on your strength. For instance, you might be stretching your hip flexors but you don’t have enough strength, and this leads to a loss of flexibility.
How to fix it: If your stretches are not helping you to add your flexibility, then concentrate on the adding strength to that area. Do some simple strength exercises after any stretching. You can also opt to visit Steroidsfax and get yourself some steroids to add your strength.
Repeating Stretches
Doing the same stretches means that you only focus on the same muscles. This mostly leads to flexibility imbalances. For instance, when an individual concentrate on stretching their hamstrings and forget or ignore stretching their quadriceps, they may have an unequal range of motion. This, as always, leads to injuries.
How to fix it: Always pair the stretches and be attentive to the alignment of your body. Spend the same amount of time stretching different muscles so that they can be balanced.
Holding Your Breath
This is a common mistake that almost every person does during their stretching session. You don’t need to hold your breath when stretching as this will contract and tense all your muscles.
How to fix it: Take deep breaths when stretching so that your muscles won’t tense.
Conclusion
If at all you have been doing the above mistakes, make sure you don’t, now that you know it is wrong. Don’t force any stretches, stretch adequately, don’t repeat the stretches, add strength when stretching and lastly take deep breaths when stretching.