When and How to Streth

(Photo credit: lululemon athletica / Foter.com / CC BY)

It’s never good when you find out that you were doing something that you thought was helping you, but it was actually hurting you. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to stretching. All too often I see runners stretching cold muscles without warming up first. Believe it or not this can actually damage your muscles and tendons by causing micro-tears, and not the good kind that you get from loading a muscle during exercise. Also it sends the wrong signal to the neuromuscular system. If you’re about to run, the last thing you want to do is tell the muscles that they need to relax by performing static stretches.  Avoid the most common mistakes when it comes to stretching by following our basic Stretching Tips.