When is the best time to stretch?
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Stretching is an important part of any health and fitness routine.
Stretching:
- helps to improve or maintain your muscle flexibility
- moves your joints through their full range
- increases blood flow to your joints and muscles
- decreases tension or stress.
Understanding flexibility
Stretching allows a joint to move through its normal full range of motion (e.g., being able to completely bend and straighten your knee). The normal range of motion is different for every joint and every person, so you shouldn't compare yourself to others.
Understanding stretching
The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines recommends that you perform flexibility activities on most days of the week. When stretches are performed correctly, the more often and further you stretch, the more likely you are to increase your flexibility. Stretching only affects the muscle being stretched, so include various stretches to cover your whole body.
You can stretch as part of your warm-up before physical activity, as part of your cool-down after exercise or both! Stretching can improve your joints’ range of motion, decrease your risk of injury and improve the overall health of your muscles. Here are some tips on when and how to stretch.
As a part of your warm-up
Stretching is an important part of your warm-up before any physical activity. Stretching helps prepare your body for sport or activity and decreases your chance of injury. Before you stretch, warm up your whole body for about 10 minutes. Your warm-up should be just hard enough to get your heart and breathing going a bit faster than normal. You could walk, jog, cycle, skip, use a stationary bike or do other activities that use the large muscles in your body (e.g., your thighs, buttocks or shoulder muscles).
Warming up before stretching increases blood flow to your muscles and tendons. In general, do not stretch your muscles before you have warmed up because you could injure yourself. Once you have warmed up, you can begin stretching.
For general health and fitness
If you are stretching for general fitness or health, the same rule about warming up applies. Always try for at least 10 minutes of whole body warm-up exercises before you stretch (see above). Aim to perform flexibility activities on most days of the week.
If you are not able to warm up before stretching (e.g., if you want to stretch while sitting at your desk), you can still benefit from stretching. Just be sure that the stretches are gentle, so that you don't hurt yourself.
Time of day
You can stretch anytime throughout the day. Actually doing the stretching activities is more important than the time of the day. For example, you can stretch:
- before exercise or physical activity
- sitting at your desk at work or at home
- when you wake up in the morning.
Cool-down
It’s a good idea to include stretching in your cool-down. Stretching helps rest your body and prevent sore muscles after exercise. The cool-down is a great time to stretch since you are already warmed up from exercising.
How to stretch
One of the safest and most popular stretching techniques is called static stretching. Static stretches are stretches that you hold for several seconds. The longer you hold the stretch and the more times you repeat it, the more likely you are to increase your flexibility at that joint. Here are some guidelines for static stretching:
- Hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.
- Repeat each stretch 1 to 5 times.
- Try doing static stretches daily.
- Do not bounce. Increase the stretch slowly until you feel tension (a slight pulling or tightness) in the muscle or tendon, hold it and then slowly ease off.
- Stretch all the major muscles in your body as well as the specific muscle groups you use in your sport. To keep track of your stretches, start with the legs, and work your way up the body.
- Breathe normally while stretching. We often focus too hard on the stretch and hold our breath. Do not hold your breath.
When not to stretch
In general, stretching is safe when you follow the advice above. If you have an injury, you should check with your doctor, athletic therapist or physical therapist before doing a stretching routine.
Stretching should be very comfortable and never painful. If a stretch hurts, you are either stretching too far, you are not stretching correctly or the stretch is not right for you. If you have pain, ease off to a more comfortable stretching point. If the pain doesn't stop, stop the stretch and ask your doctor, athletic therapist or physical therapist for advice.
Resources
- Preliminary exercise prescription for elderly patients (The College of Family Physicians of Canada).
- Selecting joint exercises for arthritis (The Arthritis Society).
