Week 4 Challenge: Stretch twice a day (morning and evening) for at least 5 minutes each time. Baseline Goal: 5 of 7 Days. At the end of the week, let us know how you did on our Facebook post.
Challenge Benefits:
- Stretching daily helps improve blood flow to the muscles, reducing tension in the body. This allows for better performance and endurance of physical activity.
- Improves flexibility, range of motion, posture, and mobility that will all play a role in daily activities.
- It can reduce stress and calm the mind by reducing tension in the neck, shoulders, and back.
- Can reduce the risk of injury from sports, exercise, or general daily activities.
Challenge Insights:
- Most common forms of stretching:
- Static stretching: involves holding a stretch in a comfortable position for a period of time, typically between 10 and 30 seconds. This form of stretching is most beneficial after you exercise.
- Dynamic stretching: are active movements that cause your muscles to stretch, but the stretch is not held in the end position. These stretches are usually done before exercise to get your muscles ready for movement.
- Avoid ballistic stretching (bouncing) as it increases the risk of injury by overstretching. Furthermore, stretching will cause tension on that muscle group, but if pain is felt, it may be a sign of stretching too far, so you may consider lightening up.
- There are benefits to stretching both before and after exercise. However, if you choose to stretch before exercise or without exercise, make sure that you are cautious that cold muscles are not as pliable as warm muscles. Consider a light warm up or lighter stretching when muscles are cold.
Fun Fact:
Stretching has been shown to help with conditions such as diabetes and depression. Stretching increases blood flow, boosts oxygen levels and helps deliver nutrients to your muscles. It also removes metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide, ammonia and uric acid.
