The 4 Most Important Stretches

This active hamstring stretch is one of the best stretches you can do

Now a days, everybody knows that they are supposed to stretch when they exercise.  But when should you stretch? How should you stretch? How much time should you spend stretching? 

Assuming you don’t have an hour a day to stretch, I am going to give you some guidelines.  In fact, I’m going to answer the question that you probably really want to ask; “What’s the least amount of stretching you can get away with?”

In my opinion, it’s more important to stretch after a workout than before.  Stretching after a workout will increase your flexibility and increase your body’s ability to recover.  This is not to say it’s not important to warm up…it is! If you want specific warm up ideas you can read my recent article “Get the Most out of Your Warm up.”  For now, let’s focus on the most important cool down stretches.  In my opinion there are four of them; the active hamstring stretch, the static hip flexor stretch, the static pectoral stretch, and the static calf stretch. 

The active hamstring stretch (30 seconds for each leg) – Since you spend most of the day walking, you’re always using you’re hamstrings.  Not only that…tight hamstrings can lead to lower back pain, something that plagues the majority of the population.

The static hip flexor stretch(30 seconds for each leg) – Tight hip flexors lead to underactive glutes, which leads to an increase risk of lower back and knee injuries.  Since most people spend a lot of time sitting, they typically have tight hip flexors.

The static pectoral stretch (30 seconds for each leg) – Tight pectorals are incredibly common and they result in poor posture, specifically rounded shoulders.  Poor posture has a variety of negative consequences, one of which is an increased risk of shoulder injury.

The static calf stretch (30 seconds for each leg) – Believe it or not, your ankle joint affects your knees, which affects your hips, which affects your back, which affects your shoulders. In other words, tight calves can negatively affect your entire body, so stretch them!

So my final answer to the question, “How much do you need to stretch?”….4 minutes.

Compete Everyday

“Compete”…..most people hear that word and they get turned off…especially if they’re talking about exercise.
That’s because we’ve been forced to “compete” everyday, usually against our will, since our first day of school.

Sure…that well meaning teacher or parent may have told you, “It’s doesn’t matter if you’re THE BEST, as long as you’re doing YOUR BEST.” But let’s face it…the rest of the world was telling you otherwise. The best athletes were millionaires, the best performers were world famous, and the best student was getting all the teacher’s attention. We all learned from an early age that doing “our best” was a one-way ticket to loser-ville.

Now you’re a grown-up and nothing’s changed. You’ve got to hop on a treadmill next to “Susie Spandex” training for her next marathon, while you’re just trying to walk fast for 20 minutes without stopping.

So, why the heck would I be encouraging you to “compete?”

It’s because we all have a desire deep down to compete, and it will make all of your workouts much more enjoyable.

But there’s a difference….YOU decide how you’re going to compete…nobody else!
I do this myself, and I do this with many of my clients. At the beginning of a workout I’ll ask, “On a scale of 1 to 5…1 being, you’re exhausted and can barely stand up straight, and 5 being, you really need to blow off some steam….how do you feel?”

Over the course of a given week, I’ll usually have a “1 day” and a “5 day.” I’ll feel “1” if I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep the night before and I’m feeling over worked. I’ll feel “5” if I’m stressed out from work and I hadn’t found the time to exercise for a couple days.

On a “1 day” I’ll either do a circuit of stability exercises or go for a nice easy jog. One of my goals might be to hold a plank for a minute or go for 30 minutes on the elliptical non-stop, nice and easy.

On a “5 day” I’ll either do power super-sets or some high-intensity cardio intervals. On these days, my goal might be to perform 20 kettlebell snatches in a minute, or do 5 complete high-intensity cardio intervals.

So you don’t have to train for the Olympics or run a marathon to compete. YOU can determine the rules of the competition.

Please…take my word for it…set goals for your next few workouts…even if they seem silly and insignificant….you’ll notice a difference, I guarantee it!

Exercise When Nobody’s Looking

Add a challenge to your plank by lifting your opposite arm and leg

It’s time to exercise….That means you need to make sure you’re wearing your special exercise clothes, you know, those spandex pants with the matching form-fitting t-shirt and socks….make sure you go to your special exercise location, your gym that’s 20 minutes away…and make sure you have time to do at least 60 minutes of cardio, 45 minutes of strength training, and save at least 20 minutes to make small talk with your friends at the gym.

I don’t know about you….but my typical client doesn’t have that kind of time on their hands!
You kidding!….As soon as their kids, spouse, or boss get the first hint that they are awake…exercise time is officially over!

That’s why I say “exercise when nobody’s looking!”

I know…we should be proud of our exercising…we should get the whole family to exercise together…our friends and family should support us in our fitness goals.

But let’s be realistic…if you can organize one family fitness activity a week, you’ve hit the jackpot!
As for Monday through Friday, you have to take what you can get!

If you have the time to get to the gym, or participate in a group exercise group 2 or 3 times a week, great!…Do it!

For those other days, try my “exercise when nobody’s looking” plan.
First thing in the morning, before you jump in the shower, squeeze in a 15-20 minute workout…warm up and stretching included. Here’s the plan:

1) Start with 6 minutes of core exercises or low-impact cardio
2) Move to 9 minutes of higher-impact exercises
3) Finish with 3 minutes of static stretching

I like to vary these “secret workouts.” If I focus on arms, legs, and core one day, I’ll focus on legs, shoulders, and cardio the next day. Or…I’ll just do a little of everything. Here’s an example of a “secret workout” I’ll do if I’m pressed for time:

1) Planks, cobra, high knees, and body weight squat presses. 30 seconds each set (I’ll set my stopwatch). I’ll repeat this 3 times for a total of 6 minutes.
2) T-Pushups, V (or “Jackknife”) Sit-ups, and Burpees. 1 minute for each set, repeat 3 times.
3) Stretch hamstrings/calves, hip flexors, and chest…holding each stretch for 30 seconds.

I’ll be done with this routine in 18 minutes…before anybody even realizes that I started exercising in the first place! Give it a try!

Starting a Strength Training Program

Strength training is beneficial for everybody! It doesn’t matter whether you want to be a competitive athlete, be healthy enough to play with your grandchildren, or just lose weight.

That’s right…I said lose weight! Many people who want to lose weight are afraid of building muscle. They think that strength training will make them look big and bulky. This couldn’t be further from the truth! By strength training you build muscle, which increases your metabolism. That means that your body will be burning more calories even when you’re resting. By strength training you are actually transforming your body into a lean, mean, fat-burning machine!

So if you really want to “lose weight” don’t focus on losing weight, focus on losing body fat and building muscle. Muscle is active; it never stops burning calories for you! Fat, on the other hand, is inactive. It just sits on your body and does nothing for you, so get rid of it. And the best way to get rid of that fat is to surround it with fat-burning, metabolism-boosting muscle!

Strength training is also important for anyone who wants to be an athlete or anyone who wants to reduce the risk of injury in their everyday lives. So, now that I’ve convinced you of the importance of strength training, where should you start?

1) Figure out what your goals are and what your current fitness level is. Any personal trainer can help you with this.

2) Start by balancing out your body. People usually want to jump right in to lifting heavy weights…BAD IDEA! You should spend you first few weeks doing “stabilization” exercises to strengthen your core and develop your balance, so you don’t hurt yourself.

3) Work on “muscular endurance.” For the second month of any program, I usually recommend that clients do a combination of “strength exercises” followed by “stability exercises” to help them build up their endurance.

4) After about 8 weeks you can really start focusing on building strength and even explosive power if you’re a competitive athlete. This is when you can really start having some fun with some real high-intensity workouts!

Now that you know the basics of strength training, get started!