February Resolution : Stretching

The resolution for this month is stretching. The goal is to remember to stretch every day, people tell me I don't stretch enough, and it's probably true.

So here's what happened. Right at the end of January I looked up some stuff about stretching, and much to my surprise I found that there is apparently a debate about stretching and how useful it is...and then I stopped reading. Unfortunately I let my lack of desire to do the activity guide my reading. I should have kept reading, but I didn't.

February Starts

So at the start of the month, I made sure to follow through on the goal since that's my style. I won't deny it though, it's been rough going. I just forget about it, and then I don't even realize that I skipped it until the middle of the day the next day.

Today I decided to look it up again. Basically I was looking for inspiration. So I found this from the mayo clinic. I really wish I would have found something on webmd, which usually I avoid like the plague, because then I could have used this joke. That place could just as easily change their name to "you probably have cancer.com" since it seems like every time you look something up you could have a cold, or be dying of a rare cancer. Great, thanks!

That article is a slide show, which in general sucks, so here's the general run down. Go there if you want pictures of a few common stretches. If you're not interested in that, here's the highlights I pulled from the first page

• Stretching has some benefits, mainly around flexibility. Not specifically around injury prevention which I had previously thought.
• Do stretching after exercising, not before.
• Stretching should not hurt
• Do not bounce while stretching (imagine reaching over to touch your toes, just hold your position, don't bounce to hit the ground)
• Hold a stretch for 30 seconds, and do both sides (e.g., left leg, right leg. Don't stretch just one side.)

Half Way Through February

So I'm recommitting to stretching, to get the benefit of extended range of motion. That has some benefit in daily life. For instance when my father was getting older, he couldn't really turn his head from left to right, it would be nice to avoid that.

Wish me luck!