Exercise is important to anybody to keep their body fit but what's equally important are the warm-ups that happen before your workout. Stretching your muscles are critical in keeping you from gaining injuries during running. Warm-ups are important as "They are intended to loosen up and relax the muscles" (Wessinghage, 78). Warm-ups can develop coordination in the muscles along with "activating" the muscles before running.
When stretching your muscles, "You should be especially relaxed when you do them; they need to be gentle, not abrupt" (Wessinghage, 78).
Exercise #1: Parallel Arm Swings. In this exercise, the feet are shoulder-width apart, pointing slightly outward while the upper body is erect. Swing both arms forward in the same direction at the same time. The purpose of this exercise is to stretch your spine and stretch your shoulder.
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| Parallel Arm Swings |
Exercise #2: Torso Twists. This exercise has feet shoulder-width apart and pointed slightly outward. Arms are swung to the left and to the right with the upper body turning with them. Similar to Exercise #1, the shoulder and torso are stretched, while the spine becomes more flexible.
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| Torso Twists |
Exercise #3: Side Bends. Feet are shoulder-width apart and parallel. Arms are wrapped around head while body is bent to one side. The muscles on one side of the torso should be stretched while spine becomes more flexed.
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| Opposing Arm Swings |
Example #4: Opposing Arm Swings. Similar stance like Exercise #1, but both arms swinging in opposite areas, far to the front and far to the rear.
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| Opposing Arm Swings |
After reading this, would you think stretching is important and would you want to try stretching your body?
Wessinghage, Thomas. Running: Detailed Advice on
Equipment, Technique, Training, Competitive Running, and Sports Medicine.
Barron's Educational Series, 2001.
