A Curious Way to Successfully Stretch Your Body

I stretch regularly and the results are amazing

Every time I started stretching, I had a clear picture of how I did the epic split. The same as in the advertisement with Jean-Claude Van Dam. It was a great motivation. Thoughts “if he could, then I can” didn’t leave me. It’s spectacular.

A brief story about my desire to do the split

The idea of a flexible body has always attracted me since I have always been flexible, like an oak tree. The video of Logan Paul is when he quickly falls into the split in the middle of the street has shocked me. I’ve always wanted the same.

I practiced. I have done different focused exercises on achieving a quick split. Guys, it hurts. My teeth were twitching, either from pain or motivation to do it. Guess what happened next?

I never did the split. I got tired of enduring all this since there was no profound goal. I decided that the game wasn’t worth the candle.

Benefits of a flexible body not in the split

For the past two years, I paid interest to stretch the way the world paid for it to cryptocurrency five years ago:

“Nothing is clear but interesting. I will keep an eye on it.”

In the gym, I could communicate with both stretching trainers and stretching lovers. I asked them many questions. They were about how to develop flexibility and what benefits stretching gives. All answers boiled down to similar ones with the research of scientists:

Improve your performance in physical activities
Decrease your risk of injuries
Help your joints move through their full range of motion
Enable your muscles to work most effectively

I’ll go through all the points based on my own experience and the experience of people with whom I have interacted.

Improve your performance in physical activities

I often see how professional athletes from different disciplines stretch at every opportunity. It became interesting to me, and I asked them what the point was:

“Constant exercise and age make muscles tighter and shorter. That makes it harder to complete light tasks early on. Regular stretching stops this process and can even cause the process to reverse.” — said a soccer player.

A short article on why flexibility degrades.

Decrease your risk of injuries

Everything is simple here. Visualize two friends. Guys of the same age, weight, and height. But there is one big difference between them. The first one, do stretching and have good body flexibility. The other one doesn’t stretch at all.

One winter day, they get on ice and slip. The guy with good flexibility has a greater amplitude of movement in his muscles and joints. So he won’t get hurt while his legs will try to split. The second guy will be less fortunate.

Help your joints move through their full range of motion

I wanted to learn how to do The Olympic squat. It’s a more complex exercise than the classic squat. The difficulty lies in the fact that you have to squat much lower than the parallel. What was my surprise when I couldn’t do this exercise? I lacked flexibility.

A powerlifting trainer gave me the advice to do regular stretches with an accent on the legs. And you know, it helped me. I began to squat deeper than parallel with the floor.

Enable your muscles to work most effectively

I was able to feel this in full measure after several months of regular stretching sessions. Muscles shorten due to constant loads, thereby reducing the effective range of motion. Do you remember how the pumped-up guys moved?

Stretching neutralizes this effect of training. It can also increase the base amplitude. It’s what happened to me. The Olympic squat I described earlier is a confirmation of this.

Two years of my observations and here is my curious way of stretching

Before I start, I must write what you don’t need to do for you to succeed.

Don’t stretch if you currently have joint or muscle injuries or any other inflammation. You can only harm yourself.
Don’t try to do the split right away. It’s not the essence of stretching.
Don’t go for stretching if you’re pissed off right now. It’s not your body’s fault. You don’t need to take it out on it.
If you feel like you don’t want to stretch, then skip class. You’ll do it for the sake of putting yourself on a checkmark. In case of that, your further desire to practice may disappear.

Now let’s stretch. I will write everything point by point to make it easier for you to navigate.

1. Decide on the goal

Every time you stretch, you must remember why you’re doing it. I wanted to get away from it so many times. But the thought of why I need it always gives me the motivation to do my practice.

2. If you don’t know how to stretch, then find a coach you’ll trust.

I stretch alone, with calm music. It’s better for me. For two years, I had the opportunity to learn how to do it. So I know what I need.

If you’ve never practiced yourself, then you’d better find a coach. There is one requirement: you must trust the coach. Otherwise, you will not be able to relax. Tension and stretching are two incompatible things.

3. Practice for 15–20 minutes.

The practice of this duration is enough. You will loosen tight muscles, and over time, the condition of your joints will improve. Your stretch will improve over time. This duration is enough to relax and reduce the overall stress level.

4. Stretch hard, but be careful not to overdo it.

The essence of stretching is to improve the flexibility of your body. You can achieve it only if you go beyond the levels of your standard amplitude. But you don’t need to torture yourself.

With practice, you will understand where the middle ground is.

5. Better time to stretch in the morning before work

Observing the pets, I noticed that the first thing they do after waking up is stretch. I decided to experiment and started waking up 30 minutes faster to do my practice. I didn’t even expect to get that much benefit.

It isn’t easy to get out of bed after sleep. The head is often heavy, and the body is stiff. Stretching removes these problems. During the practice, your body releases moderate amounts of cortisol and endorphin.

Cortisol is a famous stress hormone. But few people know that it’s thanks to him that we wake up in the morning. Cortisol invigorates us better than caffeine.

Endorphin is another famous hormone, the hormone of happiness. It stands out in response to discomfort during stretching. It gives us a sense of satisfaction.

The exercise will stretch your muscles and improve blood circulation after sleep. You’ll prepare your body for activity.

To be wide-awake, satisfied, and relaxed, and it’s all before the working day? Two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed that this was possible.

What did I get in the end from my stretching method?

All of the above is my trial and error path. And since I’m sharing this story with you, then I never regretted it.

Today I stretch three to six times a week. And all my practices take place in the morning. I do it for my pleasure but don’t forget to put pressure on myself a little. Without that, the effect will be worse.

My back stopped hurting. I feel lightness in my legs. And the amplitude in all exercises has improved. The morning trip to work has ceased to be a ritual of misery but has become light and easy. And at work itself, I now turn on much faster while drinking less coffee.

But why talk about it? Try it yourself! Try this practice for at least two weeks. I would love to hear about your results.

Thanks for reading.