Stretching is a part of fitness that is often ignored by people as they are more focused on making their body stiff and hard through weight lifting. But you might be surprised to know that stretching must be done before any type of exercise. Stretching is handy in bringing the muscles in motion and warming them up for intense workout sessions. A fitness freak must carry out at least 15-30 minutes stretching session over stretching machines. But ensure that you should never over stretch in order to avoid risk of injuries. Here are some stretching machine workout tips that every fitness person should know about.
5 Stretching Machine Workout Tips That Every Fitness Person Should Know
Working out on stretching machines is not at all difficult. Stretching machines are made to make the stretching process really easy for people. You need to follow these tips while working on stretching machines.
- Wear The Right Gear: Something that is not to be told to the strict followers of healthy regime. Proper gear is the important element of any exercise and so is the case with stretching. You can wear shorts and vests that are stretchable. Avoid wearing tight clothes that might hurt your private parts while stretching. You can even choose to wear loose clothes. Girls can wear sports bra to support their breasts and avoid any injury while stretching. You should carry a hand towel and energy drinks/water bottle with you. Also, do not forget to wear the sports shoes that are non-slippery or have anti-slippery base.
- Warm Up should be done: Before starting the workout, warm up is the key element that shouldn’t be missed. Warm up is done to activate or relax the muscles and prepare them for workout. Stretching is often confused with warm up, but warm up is something different. You can do stepper, jumping, PT or other warm up exercises before stretching. Warm up ensures that your muscles have got warm and are ready for the stretching process. The warm up process should be at least 5-10 minutes long.
- Repeat Stretching for Both Sides: The common mistake that most of us might do is stretching just one side. This causes trouble when we go for workout because the muscles of one side are ready for handling intense pressure, while the muscles of other side are still in relax mode. Stretching over the machine must be carried out alternatively for both the sides so as to go smoothly with the stretching process. Suppose, you are doing shoulder stretch then first stretch your right shoulder and then stretch you left shoulder.
- Avoid Over Stretching: Every one of us knows the lower limit and upper limit of out body. We often try hard to stretch more which is good, but sometimes we go beyond out flexibility limits and this causes wear and tear of muscles. This wear and tear might heal with time, but leave pain forever. Though stretching is good for body, but over stretching may harm you and prevent you from doing further exercise. Also, it is advisable not to do stretching in case of any injury. This may worsen your injury and cause permanent dysfunction.
- Repeat Stretching Exercises: Stretching exercises should be repeated at least twice in the time course. Also, when you stretch, you must hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds unless you feel pain. In case, you are feeling pain while holding the stretch, leave it immediately. The stretching exercise can be done before the workout or you can even do it after the workout. For good results, prefer doing stretching both before and after the workout.
Final Say
Stretching involves warming up of muscles and body parts. Stretching is responsible for providing shape and flexibility to your body. A good flexible body can only be achieved by regular long stretching sessions every day. Exercises done on stretching machines are largely responsible for adding elasticity to body. Stretching is surely better than joining aerobics of rumba classes. So, get into the mood and start with light stretching exercises.