This is an example of static stretching, which you’ll want to do after you work out. Before your work out, you’ll want to do active stretching – stretching with movement but without holding the stretch.
Michelle Myatt is very big on the importance of stretching when she provides personal training at Total-U-Fitness. As my personal trainer, it’s one aspect of my personal training experience that I appreciate. It helps to ensure that I’ll get the most out of exercising while reducing any risk that I might get hurt in the process.
Over the years, when, off and on, I’ve challenged myself with an exercise routine, I always made a point of stretching before and after each workout. I can’t say I did it right, but at least I tried. I tried because I heard somewhere that this is important and obediently included it in my fitness regimen. Turns out, there’s more to it than I realized.
I’ve noticed that, other than walking a bit before each workout with Michelle, she doesn’t have me stretching out and holding. Recently, I came across an article on the subject that has helped to explain why. I sent the article to Michelle and her husband, Tony Myatt, her partner at Total-U-Fitness and another personal trainer. The article, from the USA Today, clarifies that there is a right way to stretch and a wrong way to stretch. Which is right and which is wrong also depends on when you’re stretching.
Tony replied to the article with an enthusiastic – “This is spot on.”
The article explains, “When people stretch to the maximum, they are more likely to pull a muscle.”
As for stretching before exercising, Kieran O’Sullivan, an exercise expert at the University of Limerich in Ireland, said, “When you stretch before exercising, your body may think it’s at risk of being overstretched. It compensates by contracting and becoming more tense [sic].”
Tony said that may be a little misleading for the layman who reads the article. The point is that you want to do dynamic stretching before you exercise and static stretching afterwards. The difference is whether you hold the stretch or not. What O’Sullivan is describing is static stretching.
“When you hold the stretch you’re elongating your muscles,” Tony said. “Before working out, you want to do dynamic stretching, active stretching, stretching with movement. You’re warming up the muscles – preparing them for dynamic movement.”
An example of dynamic stretching is to stand next to a wall with one hand braced against the wall as you swing your leg through and back. While you don’t want to bounce into the stretch, as long as you keep moving, you’re doing fine. But, if you swing your leg out and hold it, now you’re doing static stretching – not a good idea before you workout.
That brings up a key goal of stretching – increasing flexibility. That’s an important factor for me. In fact, it was one of my stated goals when I started working with Michelle. And it’s something I achieve through static stretching at the end, and only at the end, of each workout.
I told her how Denny Norton, the owner of Performance Unlimited and a friend to us both, had helped me find a new used car. It’s a sporty thing – a 1993 Dodge Stealth.
I look really cool driving this car or, at least, that’s the story I’m selling between my ears. The first week I had the car, a young man who saw me drive by hollered, “Nice car.” No one yelled that when I drove by in my previous car – a 1996 Ford Contour.
As cool as I may, or may not, look driving my car, I look proportionately silly getting in and out. The thing sits so low to the ground it’s almost as though I’m sitting on the ground. To get in and out, I have to plop down on the seat with my right foot inside. I then have to grab my left knee and pull my left leg into the vehicle. If there is a car parked next to me, and I can’t open the door far, I tend to look doubly goofy on egress and entry.
My decision to work with Michelle was not driven by a choice to either get in shape or buy a different car. However, it would be nice not to look quite as ridiculous getting in and out of my car. Already, after working with Michelle for only a couple months, I’m seeing a significant difference. My flexibility is definitely improving. Therefore, my self-perceived cool factor is on the rise, whether I’m driving or parking.
Of course, a friend once sent a test on the Internet where I could find out if I was cool while in high school. I clicked on the button to take the test and it took me to a page that read, “You’ve failed. If you were cool in high school, you wouldn’t have needed a test now to know it.”
For more information, call Tony or Michelle at 815-530-6368.
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