Stretches Before Exercise

If you are out of the habit of exercising, doing some stretches before exercise routines will greatly increase the effectiveness of your workout. Stretches also make you less prone to injury and more able to complete a full-length workout.

Anyone who has ever participated in stretch class (for dancers) or a yoga class that emphasizes slow, steady movement, will have experienced the benefits of stretching. While you may feel awful after having gone for a run, the after-effects of stretch routines are much more pleasant. After finishing a thorough stretching session, most people feel thoroughly relaxed, pleasantly tired and longer and thinner than they did before stretching. Stretches before exercise are always a good idea and an entire stretch routine as exercise can be a good way to do something great for your body on days when you are recovering from an intense workout the day before.

The right kinds of stretches to do before exercising will be determined by what muscles will be most heavily used during the workout routine. If you are going to run on a treadmill, the most important muscles to stretch are the legs, especially the hamstrings. The leg muscles are crucial to stretch before most types of exercise because of the body's heavy reliance on the leg muscles during exercise.

A good assortment of stretching exercises is the best arsenal you can have for developing long, lean muscles. Stretching is the only route to lengthening the look of your body's muscles. While not exercising will enable one to not bulk up on muscles, the result of not exercising is flabby muscles (lack of them). The attractive type of muscles: long and firm, are only gotten by lots of stretching paired with lots of exercising.

Runners often stretch the lower leg by putting one heel down on the ground in front of the body and leaning all the weight onto the 'back foot' that is anchored, lifting the toes of the front foot as high as possible, which lengthens the calf muscle. While this is a great stretch, if you need a break from it, try this stretch for the calf muscle instead:

Forward Bend: Standing straight, bend forward slowly, keeping a straight back. If you can't touch the floor, put a chair or footstool in front of you that is a height that you can reach. If you can reach the floor, add another challenge by lifting your heels up off the ground, placing them back on the ground and then lifting your toes as high as you can. Touching the floor is a challenge in and off itself. Lifting your toes off the ground while touching the ground is a combo stretch of the runner's stretch and this toes-off-the-ground stretch.

Stretching the upper leg is also important for loosening up before exercise and preventing exercise-related injuries.

Single Hamstring Stretch: The picture at the top of this page shows a very common hamstring stretch. Standing on one foot and using the arm on that side of the body for balance, bend the other leg so that your foot comes up to your buttocks by holding the foot in your hand behind your body. Hold the foot here for an extended amount of time in order to really stretch the muscle. Of course, this stretch needs to be done on both sides to be effective.

Stretches for the leg muscles are the most commonly needed ones. If your sport requires extensive stretching of another muscle group, you should find stretches for the muscle groups that are specific to your chosen sport. The leg stretches mentioned here are good for almost all of the most common sports, from biking and running to playing tennis or soccer.

Before and after exercising are good times to loosen your body's muscles. Swinging your arms gently from side to side and turning gently from your hips will loosen your torso. Roll your shoulders first towards the front and then towards the back. Swing your arms so your hands meet in front of your body and then in back of your body. Alternating all these loosening exercises will help give you an overall stretch before and after starting your workout, which will make your workout more enjoyable, result in less post-workout pain and prevent injuries due to exercising.

• Pictures of People Exercising
• Women Fitness Models
• Male Fitness Model

• Breast Lifting Exercise
• Contour Abs
• Naked Exercise
• Naked Pilates
• Hula Hoop Exercises

• Jogging for Beginners
• Stretching Exercises for Bulging Discs
• Ab Exercises with Resistance Bands
• Illustrated Stretching Exercises
• Cool Down Exercises