What happens to our bodies, if we ignore the stretching after a workout

Warm up and cool down - a mandatory part of any workout. And if the warm-up, most of us perform, that stretching after exercise few have the time. This is a big mistake, which threatens serious problems.

Anna Munoz (Anna Munoz), a leading specialist of the manufacturer of medical devices and orthopedic products DJO Global, explains the almost on the fingers, what happens to our body if we ignore the stretching after a workout. Any training.

Imagine a rubber band that is just lying on your desk. You're trying to stretch it, but it always shrinks back. However, with each new attempt you manage to stretch the tape more and more. Our muscles can be compared to a rubber. The more you try to stretch it, the more resilient and stronger it becomes.

bracing increases your range of motion and flexibility. Ignoring stretching, on the other hand, drastically reduces the mobility of the joints and muscles, which increases the risk of injury. This is especially true of runners, which give constant heavy load on leg muscles.

Reduction of flexibility in the joints and muscles leads to changes in biomechanics or disruption of their normal functioning. Increased tension in the tendons. For example, in people with rigid quadriceps will develop supergenual tendonitis (inflammation of the patellar tendon) due to the fact that tight muscles will pull the tendon attachment to the patella, thus creating increased tension, inflammation and pain sensations. You have to stretch the quadriceps and the surrounding muscles for at least 5 minutes after the workout. This prevention will be enough to prevent inflammation.

Due to such a forgetfulness of many runners are very rigid hip flexors and hamstrings, which can also lead to pain in the knees. In such cases, patients prescribed exercises to strengthen and stretch the quadriceps, hip flexors and hamstrings - all these muscles have a direct impact on the state of patellar tendon. If they are stretched, so will pull and their work will be more harm than good. This is especially important in cold weather as well as in muscle temperature decreases, becoming more stringent, increasing the risk injury.

All the muscles are connected. Rigidity of one of them affects the adjacent, and they, in turn, their neighbors, and so the chain extends to the whole body.

As a result, due to the fact that you are too lazy to allocate 5 minutes after a workout at an easy stretch, you get pain and suffering.

Stretching should be soft, without jerks. Otherwise, you can damage the muscles and tendons, microfractures and earn more serious injury. Scarred as a result of such injury muscle becomes rough and hard. Then stretch it very difficult. During stretching posture hold and repeat three times each exercise for 20-60 seconds.

Major muscle groups which it is desirable to stretch after each training session:

• quadriceps femoris;
• hamstrings;
• caviar;
• ilio-tibial tract;
• the muscles of the lumbar;
• gluteal muscles;
• hip flexors / groin muscles;
• piriformis.

Exercises

stretching the quadriceps

Stretching for ilio-tibial tract

Stretching the lumbar

Stretching the gluteal muscles

Stretching Femur (hamstrings)

Stretching the piriformis muscle

Stretching the hip flexors

Stretching the calf muscles