That One Thing

If there were just one exercise you could do for the rest of your life what would it be?

Would you like to ski, swim, play tennis or just bang weights forever? Well, one physical exercise that can greatly benefit your health and wellbeing at any age; but particularly as you mature, is stretching. Stretching is one of the best things you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

In school students are taught the popular stretches like the hurdlers stretch or a seated groin stretch. However, these may not be the most useful stretches for you. When it comes to optimal performance you need to stretch specifically where your tightest muscles are. The best way to know which muscles need stretching in your body is to consult a professional who understands how to asses muscle imbalances, and who can help you create a program.

A tough fitness fact is that short bouts of activity (3-8 weeks) will seldom produce meaningful results. If you are going to see change then you must commit to the long term… period. This goes for stretching as well as lifting, running, swimming, or any other activity for that matter. Nothing worth having comes easy.

Stretching is actually very easy to do; the problem is that it’s also easy not to do. All you need are 5-8 key stretches that you do after each workout for 20-30 seconds each. If you’re above 65 years old you should hold your stretches for about 60 seconds.

Does eight minutes maximum per session sound like too much time? Ok… how much time do you spend talking during your workout? How hard would it be to turn talk time into stretch/talk time? Find or make a friend as you stretch… you can open up the conversation by talking about how great it is to do!