This activity is vital to recovery and decreasing your risk of injury, says Jeff Brannigan, MS, program director at Stretch*d, a stretch therapy studio in New York City, who’s worked with Olympic athletes. “What holds people back from stretching is that it seems like a big-time commitment,” he says. “But really, if you can carve five to 10 minutes out of your daily routine, you can accomplish a lot.”
The key to creating a consistent stretching routine is knowing what type of stretches to do (and when) to maximize the benefits. Plus, it’s helpful to understand why stretching is so beneficial and to learn a few basic moves to add to your schedule. Here, all you need for a solid stretch.
Why should you stretch?
At the base level, stretching can help improve flexibility (achieving a muscle or joint’s end range of motion) and mobility (maintaining control through that range of motion). And when you improve these areas of fitness, you see physical payoffs in better performance and recovery. “If you’re too tight, your body’s not going to be able to move properly, so you’re going to be more prone to injury and pain,” Brannigan says.
A review published in Frontiers in Physiology in 2021 supports the idea that a single, short bout of stretching can improve run performance, based on parameters like time to exhaustion, total running distance, and VO2 max. It also showed that less flexible runners gain the biggest benefits. What’s more, a review published in 2016 indicates an association between stretching and a more than 50 percent risk reduction in acute muscle-related injuries.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 02, 2022-utgaven av Runner's World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
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