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Hey guys! So today I'm going to share with you my five minute stretching routine that
I do after I go for a run. I always do at least some stretching. Sometimes I do five
minutes, sometimes I do ten minutes, after I cool down. To cool down I do usually a ten
minute walk, and in fact, I at least do a ten minute walk, always. If I'm crunched for
time, I'll cut my run short, just to get extra walking in, because I feel like it's so important
and so beneficial for recovery and preventing injury and then I will follow my walk with
some stretches. Now there's a lot of debate on the benefits of stretching and whether
there is any benefit to it. And I believe that you should listen to science but also
listen to your body and do what makes you feel the best. And I've been running for about
ten years and I've tried all sorts of different routines for stretching, cooling down, warming
up, and I find this works best for me, to do a ten minute walk for a cool down and then
stretch for five to ten minutes.
I'm going to go through all the different stretches that I do, I stretch every key muscle
in the legs and a few other body parts, and I'm just going to give you the basics and
I hope you find this video informative and educational and interesting. So thank you
for watching!
Alright so I'm going to get started with the runner's calf stretch. I'm going to start
out by coming into a plank position and bringing one foot forward. In this case I'm going to
start with my right foot. And I want to bring that leg in between my hands and have my knee
pretty much in line with my ankle. Now I'm feeling the stretch in the back of my calf
in the leg that's extended behind me, that is where you should feel it. And if you don't
feel a stretch there, what you want to do is push your heel towards the floor. Now it
is so important to stretch your calves because they can get really tight, especially if you
don't run that frequently, so definitely stretching your calves is super important.
Okay so you have three major muscle groups in your legs: your calves, your quads and
your hamstrings. We're going to do quads next, so to do this stretch you want to grab your
ankle behind your rear end and you want to bring that leg in line with the other leg.
Now you should hold every stretch for about 15 seconds; I go a little bit short on these
two, but that is where you'll get the maximum benefit.
So next is hamstrings, and this is the area that gets tightest for me, so I'm actually
going to repeat this stretch two times. In yoga, we call this parsvottanasana. It's two
straight legs, so both legs are very straight, both feet are pointing forward, and you're
going to have your feet about two to three feet apart, and you want to get your back
pretty straight if you can. If you're very flexible you might be able to touch your nose
to your knees, but I am not that flexible after about ten years of running, my hamstrings
are pretty tight. That is probably the tightest area in my whole body. So what stretching
I can do, I do, and hopefully it at least maintains my flexibility. I'm not looking
to get more flexible, but I'm just looking to prevent injury and reduce soreness.
So next up I'm doing a squat, and this for me stretches my inner thighs. I've done this
some people and they don't really feel anything, but for me, I feel a real good stretch in
my inner thighs when I do this. I rock side to side, another way you could do this would
be to have one leg extended out and squat over the other foot.
Finally for my legs, I'm going to stretch my arches. Now I have had plantar fasciitis
in the past, and I find that stretching the arches is really important. Again, if you
have flexible toes, you might not feel a stretch doing this, but I do.
Finally, I'm going to finish up with some seated stretches. You don't think about it,
but you definitely use your torso a lot when you run. That is your core, and you need to
stretch it out. Keep it supple, keep it happy. So I'm doing some side stretches, just lengthening
through each side. And then I'm going to do some spinal twists. So again, as we age, and
get older, at any age really, keeping your back healthy and happy gets more and more
important all the time, so I make time every day when I'm stretching to do a few spinal
twists.
And then I'm also going to stretch out my shoulders and my triceps. Once again, you
don't think about your arms, but you are using them when you run. Of course you are swinging
your arms the entire time that you're running, so it's important to just give them a little
stretch, give them a little love, and keep everything feeling happy and healthy.
Last but not least, we're going to do a few neck circles in each direction. This is just
my favorite way to feel just really like I'm finished with my workout.
And... finally... foam roller? I think we're going to save it for next time, but I'm definitely
going to do a video soon so stay tuned for that.
Okay so that was my five minute stretching routine that I do after every run that I do.
And I want to say thank you so much for watching. If you like videos like this and you want
to see more informative exercise, inspirational videos, click subscribe below and if you liked
this video, click like. And again, thank you for watching and I hope you'll tune in next
time. Bye!