Helping Your Muscles Help You
The human body is an amazing machine, and muscles are a large part of what drives it. There are about 650 muscles in the body, and they provide all kinds of support and propulsion. The skeletal muscles, in conjunction with tendons and ligaments, support the body's frame and give it shape; smooth muscles line body organs; and cardiac muscles pump the heart. Muscles are working all the time to adjust your posture, move your body parts, help keep you upright, operate certain bodily functions, and generate heat in your body.
Skeletal muscles work in pairs so that when you move, while one contracts, another relaxes. This way, all the parts that need to bend can also return to their normal position. Muscles need the nutrients and oxygen from blood to keep them functioning. Nutrition and exercise affect these very important parts of your body; the better muscles are cared for, the better they perform.
Skeletal muscles are made up of very elastic fibers connected by tissue. Each fiber develops from the fusion of many cells specific to the function of the muscle. Blood vessels and nerves run through the connective tissue. Skeletal muscle fibers line up in bands and are called striated muscles.
Done properly, exercise strengthens muscles, helping them to do their job better. If you exacerbate a muscle group because you overwork it (even without intending to), you can strain and even tear your muscles, which can force you to stop exercising until the muscles heal. To avoid this, you want to treat your muscles with respect. Warm them up, don't push them too hard, and help strengthen them properly by stretching carefully and thoroughly.
Stretch After You Run
A major misconception about running is that you must stretch beforehand. In fact, the opposite is the case: You should stretch after a workout. If you really feel you should stretch because you want to loosen up or warm up your muscles before the serious work, jog or walk for 5–10 minutes and then stretch.
The best thing to do is to start your run very slowly, then ease into a training pace 5–10 minutes later. The idea is not to stretch a cold muscle. If you're planning to do a speed workout or race, jog for about a mile, stretch, do striders, and then do the speed workout or race.
Before stretching, you need to warm up your muscles. Don't stretch past the point of slight discomfort. If your muscles are still cold, don't try to stretch them like a rubber band, especially if you haven't run in a while.
It's very important to remember to stretch after a run. A workout isn't over until, as part of your cool-down period, you stretch thoroughly immediately following the run. You need to make sure you establish the good work habits of successful runners, for whom the stretching period after the run is as important as the run itself.
View stretching as a part of your overall workout. It should be just as natural and routine as jogging to warm up before an event. This is because your legs are most receptive to the benefits of stretching immediately after you run. Stretching 30–40 minutes later when your muscles have cooled down actually increases your chances of causing injury. Your muscles are fatigued and tight after a run, especially after a long or fast-paced one, and stretching can help to alleviate soreness later.
In short, stretch gently and slowly while your muscles are still warm. One final rule: No bouncing when you stretch. That is called ballistic stretching, and it can cause injuries!
