If you consider yourself an athlete—whether you are competing professionally or pursuing sports on a more personal level in your free time—stretching is an extremely important activity to incorporate into your daily (or semi-daily routine). Whatever your activity level, stretching is essential in helping keep your muscles and joints healthy and happy—especially as we age.

You might have some grade school memories that involve your Physical Education (PE) teacher leading your class in stretches before playing basketball or running—and if you played any kind of organized sports, your coaches may have led team stretches before practices and scrimmages. The reason being—stretching is a great injury prevention exercise.

Pre-Activity Stretching Warms Your Muscles/Body Up for Activity

When we are younger, our bodies tend to be more limber and flexible (for most of us anyway) and sports injuries from overuse, strain, or improperly warming up are less common for children than they are for teenagers and adults. Proper stretching is synonymous with sports injury prevention, reducing the risk for overuse injuries.

Proper Stretching Promotes Both Mobility and Flexibility

Part of the evidence that stretching reduces injury risk is found with the fact that stretching increases your range of motion. The act of stretching elongates your muscles. So, stretching your back, neck, hips, and other parts of your body can help relieve stress, soreness from being tight, and can even help improve posture. Better mobility leads to better flexibility!

What is Athlete Stretching?

Stretching and mobility training designed for athletes is intended to help improve range of motion, prevent injuries, and boost athletic performance. Regardless of whether you are just beginning your fitness journey or an experienced athlete, a well-rounded athletic training program will include athletic stretching. 

Why Consider Athletic Training at an Athletic Club?

These programs are led by professional fitness instructors who are experts in their fields and bring with them a deep knowledge of how to properly warm up your muscles and joints before activity—they also are knowledgeable about targeting stretching based on sport (i.e., focusing on legs for runners or targeting stretches in the upper body and hips for climbers).

Local to the Greater Lancaster Area and Interested in Athletic Stretching Instruction?

Universal Athletic Club (UAC) is offering a new athletic stretching class designed specifically to promote better range of motion, prevent injuries, and improve athletic performance. This dynamic stretching class is not a yoga class but does have some of the same benefits. You do not need to be an athlete to stretch. The class is inclusive.

So if you know that you need to be stretching more and have trouble doing solo, do not have enough knowledge to know whether or not what you are doing in terms of stretching is effective for your level and type of activity, or you are just looking for something different in your training routine, drop by the gym and check out what UAC has to offer. Want to learn more? Visit our website or drop by for a tour.