Stretch It Out

/

Every January, at my work, we are encouraged to pick “one word” for the year and focus on that word both in our personal and professional lives.  This year, I had a hard time to come up with mine.  I had multiple to choose from and one of them was “stretch”….

For those of you, who know me well, my abstract mind can “stretch” out that word to many different meanings. For this month, I constantly thought about that word because I felt like I was “stretched” very thin with the time I had and things I had to do.  I felt like I was behind on everything, from the very first day of January to the very last day.  However, it was still a very happy month because I tried to “stretch” out the happy moments as far as possible, even if that meant trying to smile in the midst of stress. I probably could have done a better job but it sure felt good to “stretch” my mouth for an extra smile when my face wanted to do a frown.

here is a stretched out smile in the middle of shoveling 4 feet of snow!

Now, let’s think about the most common meaning of “stretch”, especially in the context of training.  We stretch out muscles after a work out so that the pressure that we put on our muscle fibers can be relaxed and lengthened.  Without a sufficient stretch, the muscles do not get the chance to grow efficiently.  Therefore, stretching plays a very important role in developing a healthy body.  It is basically the “fresh breath” for our muscles AFTER a workout.  The reason why we do it AFTER a workout, is so that we can give the muscles the relaxation after taking that deep, fresh breath.  So always keep in mind that any mid-workout stretch also puts the muscles in that relaxation phase, which immediately puts them at risk for any work that you will demand from them during the rest of your work-out.

As you work on stretching out your happy moments for less stressed days, here are couple key moves to stretch your muscles for a happier body:

Hamstrings (back of your leg):

  • Keep legs together and straight.

  • Bend from the hips towards the legs WITHOUT bending the knees.

  • Once your head is as low as it can go, lift the right toes off the ground (keeping the heel on the ground) WITHOUT bending either of the knees.

  • Slowly bring the toes back down and switch sides.

Quads (front of the leg):

  • Keep legs together and straight.

  • Bend the right knee, making sure that upper legs are still together and the right knee pointing straight to the ground, while holding the right foot with the right hand.

  • As you are holding the position, switch the hand that is holding the right foot, making sure not to separate the legs.

Wrists/Forearms:

  • Place your hands on a table with fingers points towards the body and the inside of the forearms facing away from the body.

  • Without lifting the palms off the table lean back.  This is a very minimal movement.

High five to you all for making through the first month of 2023.  Don’t forget to stretch your face muscles with one big smile.

best stretch of the morning! :)

the happiness is in the air with my 8-year old!!!!