Stretches to Prevent Injuries that You Can't Miss

Stretches are really important. You should include them in your workout routine before you start and after a few minutes of finishing it. Including stretches in your routine will help you prevent injuries.

There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t have a stretch routine. This brings consequences such as muscle injuries and injuries in other parts of the body. Therefore, if you want to stay fit and get results from your workouts as well as prevent injuries, don’t skip the warm-up routines and right stretches.

The importance of a stretching routine

It’s not just about preventing injuries, it’ll also allow you to have a better performance in exercises, sports and even in your daily activities. Some of the beneficial effects are:

• Reduces muscle tone: reduces the risk of suffering muscle tears and overloading your muscles.
• Improves your elasticity: your muscles will have a better performance in movements as their strength and agility increases.
• Lower pressure: when the elasticity of your muscles increases, the friction it produces on other surfaces of your body decreases. Therefore, the muscle tension in your joints is reduced.

• Physical relaxation: your body will react better to the physical effort because it’s been adjusting to the demand. You’ll feel more comfortable your surroundings because you’re improving the emotional part as well. It will also help improve your overall well-being.
• Healthy rest: your mind will go into a relaxation process that’ll help you to sleep better and more comfortably.
•  Sports performance: it improves noticeably by adding power because your muscles will be more active and adapted to the effort made to prevent the risk of injuries.
• Improves your breathing: When you stretch your lumbar muscles, your lungs expand better, noticeably improving the process of inhaling and exhaling oxygen.

Adequate stretches to prevent injuries

As you start with your physical activity, you’ll need more of these exercises. They’ll be focusing on different routines depending on what you’re going to work, so you can prevent injuries in those areas.

Neck

Using your hands, try to slightly, but firmly move your head to the front, to the back and side to side for a few seconds.

Move your head simulating a circle above you.

Back

Put an exercise mat on the floor and lay on it, on your back. Then, flex your legs and knees and make your hips turn to the side so your knees touch the mat and your torso or back remain straight. Repeat this movement on both sides of your body.

Stand up and work your lower back. Keep your legs firm and bend forward, trying to hold your ankles for a few seconds.

Intercostal muscles

Stand up firmly and lift your arms. Put your hands together and bend your torso side to the side, but keep your arms up. Inhale and exhale so your lungs can expand.

Chest

Extend your arms again but towards your back. Intertwine your hands with the palms looking down, lift them up and push out your chest trying to extend it as much as possible.

Shoulders

Stand up firmly with your legs slightly open. Extend one of your arms, and with the other one, push it from your shoulder towards the direction where you extended it.

Then, take your arm under the one you have extended and apply some pressure on your elbow to make this area flexible.

This will help you to prevent one of the most common injuries.

Abdominal bridge

Lie facing down on an exercise mat. Put the palms of your hands on the mat, shoulder-width apart and lift yourself until your torso is off the mat.

Now get on your back, lay on top of a good-sized medicine ball and let your body hang or rest on top of it to both sides, but keeping your feet firmly on the floor.

Quadriceps

Stand up firmly. Flex or bend your knees to the back and grab your leg (near your ankle) with your hand. Press upwards a little, so your muscles start to elongate.

Legs

Sit on the mat and extend your arms trying to reach or touch your ankles, but without flexing or bending your legs.

Ankles

For your ankles, move them as if you were doing circles with them.

After you’re done with your daily exercises, you can repeat a few of these stretches, or use other equipment such as foam rollers and massage the muscles you worked the most that day. This will allow your muscles to regenerate, so you can continue with your routine without the fear of injuries.