As a Scottsdale personal trainer, I end every personal training session with 10-15 minutes of stretching. It is way too important and beneficial to the body to skip. If your Scottsdale personal trainer is not stretching you after every session then ask them to start. If you do not have a personal trainer, then you can easily stretch yourself. Most people don’t do it because they consider it a waste of time but nothing could be further from the truth.

What happens when you exercise? Your muscles contract, right? Well, what that actually means is that your muscles are flexing and becoming “shortened”. It can be very problematic to leave those muscles in a “shortened” position. Stretching gives the muscles the opportunity to relax again and lengthen back to their original shape and size.

As a Scottsdale personal trainer, I know that so many injuries happen because of lack of flexibility in muscles and limited range of motion in joints. If people would slow down and take time to stretch they’d save themselves time and pain in the long run! An injury is surely in the future of someone who does not stretch. Being flexible will help you perform daily tasks with more ease. It will also increase your mobility and balance, causing you to be less prone to falls and accidents of this nature. In short, stretching will help to prevent injury.

But wait, I’m not done! Did you know stretching also increases blood circulation? Stretching delivers fresh, oxygen- rich blood throughout the body. Rushes of “new ” blood like this can help to cleanse the body of toxins and speed recovery within damaged parts of the body. Stretching has been proven to reduce stress as well. BONUS!

Stretching has a few basic rules.

1. Warm your muscles up for a minimum of 5 minutes. This can be any cardio at a light intensity. You do not want to stretch “cold” muscles.

2. Do NOT bounce as you stretch! Oh man, I see this all the time. Bouncing can lead to tiny tears in your muscles, that will then lead to scar tissue, which could then further restrict your muscles’ flexiblity.

Hamstring and calf stretch.

3. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 30 seconds.

4. Stretching should not be painful. Tension is surely present, but not so intense as to cause major pain.

5. BREATH into it! Consciously send you breath into the area you are stretching and try your best to relax!

Exercise and stretching go hand in hand. When you exercise, you need to stretch. But lets not stop there, even if you don’t exercise you still use your body one way or another throughout the day. People who work in front of desks and computers all day need to stretch. The guy who works ten hours of manual labor needs to stretch. The mom who chases her kids around all day needs to stretch. Basically, if you have a body- be good to it- STRETCH! As a Scottsdale personal trainer, I recommend three times a week minimum! Start TODAY!