This New Year, my biggest resolution was to exercise every single week. After my first few days of hitting the gym consistently, my muscles started to ache a ton. I could only imagine how sore the Olympians must feel on their flights home from the Olympic Village. However, there is a great way to not only prevent your muscles from straining but also help your gains: stretching! Whether you’ve been ski jumping your way to a gold medal or doing leg presses at Temple’s very own Aramark STAR Complex, these post-workout stretches will help you beat soreness and strain.
Making sure to stretch before and after your workout is super important, but you can use these stretches at any time, and they will still have benefits such as increasing your flexibility. You should breathe deeply and relax during these exercises and go as slowly as you’d like. As always, listen to your body first; if a stretch begins to feel painful, you can adapt to a less strenuous version of the movement or just move on to the next stretch.
Upper Body
Stretching your upper body can be overlooked often, but it is integral to your everyday life. When you stretch your upper body consistently, your range of motion and posture will improve because you release tension from your muscles. In turn, you will be more flexible and more ready to take on your next workout. Here are three upper body stretches to get you started!
- Cobra Pose
Lay flat on your stomach on your yoga mat or floor. Bend your arms so that your palms are flat on the ground next to your shoulders, with your elbows pointing toward your feet. Lay your feet so that the tops of your feet are on the floor, with your big toes slightly touching. Press through your palms to lift your chest off the floor, arching your back with your hips, legs, and feet still on the floor. Your shoulders should be down and away from your ears, while your head faces forward. You should feel a stretch primarily in your spine, and, depending on your level of flexibility, your chest and shoulders. Do this stretch for 15 seconds and repeat four to seven times.
This stretch extends your spine and stretches your chest and shoulders, with a small stretch in your hip flexors. This can help alleviate back stiffness and promote blood circulation up and down your spinal area.
- Overhead Tricep and Shoulder Stretch
Sit up straight or stand with your legs shoulder-width apart. Reach your right arm straight up to the ceiling, then bend at the elbow so your hand is between your shoulder blades (or as far down your back as you can). Then, raise your left arm over your head and put your left hand on top of your right elbow. Press down on your right elbow until you feel a stretch in your triceps and shoulder, hold for 15 seconds, then repeat on the other side.
This stretch is good at increasing your range of motion for your shoulder and elbow over time, and it can give a small back stretch as well. This will also stimulate your upper body’s blood circulation.
- Wrist Extension and Flexion
Extension: Start by sitting up straight or standing. Extend one of your arms straight out with your palm facing outwards like a “stop” motion. Use your other arm to lightly pull your extended arm’s fingers toward you until you feel the stretch in your bottom forearm and wrist. Hold for thirty seconds and repeat on the other side.
Flexion: Extend one of your arms just like the wrist extension exercise. This time, bend your wrist down so that your palm faces you and your fingers point to the floor. Put your other hand horizontally across your knuckles and pull your extended hand toward you until you feel the stretch in your upper forearm and wrist. Hold for thirty seconds and repeat on the other side.
These two stretches are important because they stretch your wrist extensors and forearms, which are not only important for exercises like push-ups or planks that put pressure on your wrists, but also for writing and typing that you do every day.
Lower Body
Your lower body is super important to your day-to-day life in obvious ways, like walking and standing. Generating flexibility in your legs, hips, and ankles will improve your life in unseen ways, like making it easier to bend, run, and improve your posture. Gaining flexibility now will even make your life easier as you age, because you’ll have a stronger foundation to build on when joint mobility might start decreasing. Here are three important stretches to hit after your leg day!
- Seated Toe Touches
Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you, making sure your spine is straight. Reach forward with both arms and try to touch your toes. If you cannot reach your toes, you can hold on to your calves or thighs, going as far forward as possible with a straight spine. If you can touch your toes, you can use your hands to pull them back slightly for a deeper calf stretch. Hold this pose for 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times.
This stretch targets your hamstrings and calves for a great lower body stretch, and it can even help prevent lower back strain or injury. As students, we spend a lot of time sitting in class or doing work, so lower body flexibility exercises are even more important.
- Butterfly Pose
Sit on the floor with a straight spine. Bend your knees and put the soles of your feet together, so that your knees are pointing out to either side, and your toes are pointing in front of you. Lower your knees to the ground as far as you can, and for a deeper stretch, hinge forward with a straight back, extending your arms and putting your palms on the ground. Hold this pose for 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times.
Your hip joints keep you balanced and upright, in turn helping your back. This pose will improve your hip mobility and flexibility for a better range of motion in your legs.
- Standing Quad Stretch
Stand with your feet slightly apart. Bend one of your knees backwards until your foot is near your glutes, with your other leg staying straight. Pull your foot to touch your glutes using the corresponding hand, and you should feel a stretch in your quads. You may need to use a chair for balance, but stay upright on your own as best you can. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
This exercise will help improve your range of motion in your legs, while also relieving muscle soreness and encouraging blood flow to your legs. You can also improve your balance by doing this stretch consistently.
While you celebrate the wins of your favorite Olympic athletes, remember all the wins you’ll feel from consistently stretching your muscles. Your flexibility and mobility will increase in the long term, and you will feel much less muscle tension and soreness in the short-term after your workouts. Happy exercising, and don’t forget to recover like a pro!