For the Health of It: The importance of stretching
Tyler Ryan and Hima Dalal discuss the importance of stretching prior to working out to insure overall health
LEXINGTON SC (WOLO) – Everyone understands the importance of exercise, whether it is a full workout, short run, or walk with a dog. What often gets lost, however, is the importance of stretching prior to exercise.
According to Hima Dalal from Cora Health, a proper warm up increases flexibility & blood flow to a given area, which will help prevent muscle soreness, muscle spasms, and Pain.
Warming up also prepares your muscles to stretch during other exercises, says Dalal, pointing out that “warming up is an important step for injury prevention.”
A proper warm up will prepare you for activity or sports you want to play with less chance of muscle pull and better performance of activity. Marching, spot jogging, treadmill at lower speeds,
biking, and walking at least 5 to 10 minutes will properly warm up your body for a more rigorous workout.
Another important part of any workout is the cool down, says Dalal. “After exercise, your blood flow is heavy in your extremities & heart rate elevated. The purpose of cool down is to return your heart rate to your resting heart rate.”
She says that a cool down is walking, running slowly, or just in general slowing down the heartrate.
Stretching is also another important part of any exercise routine, says Dalal. “Stretching after a workout should be a part of a cool down routine,” she saysm, “benefits are relief from
cramping, improved range of motion, decreased chance of pain and tendon injury.”
The takeaway is that warming up, stretching, and even cooling down will allow you to keep doing the activity or sports you enjoy.
Dalal says that if you have pain, persistent muscle spasm, cramping and decreased range of motion you should see your physical /Occupational Therapist for evaluation and they will format
personalized warm up, stretching, cool down routine for you.
For more information, contact Hima: hdalal@corahealth.com
