Five Fantastic Stretching Exercises - The Diigo Meta page

• 30 Aug 08
  

  Linden Mueller

  I haven't been as good about stretching during this training as I was in the past, but it is clear that I need to commit to it during these last 4 weeks of training. This post tells why stretching is so important and offers several stretches for runners. Bonus: It's on <a href="http://www.halhigdon.com">HalHigdon.com</a>!

  stretching athletes flexibility post-to-blog

  • It is the "quads" that often go at the end
    
    of marathons, causing runners to come shuffling across the finish
    
    line because they have a hard time lifting their feet off the
    
    ground.
  • The hamstring
    
    is the muscle that runs from just below the knee up into the
    
    buttocks. It’s the muscle that lifts the lower leg and bends
    
    the knee after the quads have lifted your knees.
  • 3 more annotations...
  • • The piriformis muscle is
      
      responsible for lateral rotation of the hip
    • The gastroc
      
      muscle, along with the soleus, is located in the back of the calf.
      
      It is the calf muscle that actually propels your leg across your
      
      grounded foot while running.
    • The soleus is the other major muscle in
      
      the calf, located in front of the gastroc. It is important for
      
      planting the foot on the ground before your push off.
• 30 Jul 08
  

  Stephen Bittner

  Stretching

• 23 Jul 08
  

  Alexander Garber

  stretching exercises running quadriceps hamstring piriformis gastroc soleus MICE RICE warm up cool down overstretch

  • Warm Up and Cool
    
    Down
  • helps to remove lactic acid
    
    from the muscle
  • 39 more annotations...
  • • But stretching during your cool-down may be even more
      
      important
    • Don’t
      
      Overstretch
    • A healthy muscle can elongate up to 1.6 times its length
    • automatic myotatic
      
      reflex
    • static position
    • Use MICE Rather Than
      
      RICE
    • This is because immobilizing a muscle can lead to
      
      decreased blood flow and muscle atrophy. If you stretch properly
      
      while recovering from an injury, you can speed that
      
      recovery.
    • 1. Quadriceps
      
      Stretch
    • Pitchford points out several form faults: "You want to
      
      keep your back straight and not allow the knee to drift forward
      
      ahead of the stance leg. A lot of runners slouch forward, which
      
      effectively negates the stretch’s effectiveness."
    • An even more effective way to do this exercise,
      
      however, is lying on a bench, using a towel wrapped around the
      
      ankle to pull your foot toward your buttocks. You should position
      
      yourself on the edge of the bench with the foot of your dangling
      
      leg forward, knee bent, leg relaxed. As with the other stretching
      
      exercises, hold each stretch for 10 seconds and repeat as many as
      
      10 times for each leg.
    • Quadriceps Stretch
      
      Positions
    • Hamstring
      
      Stretch
    • waist-high stationary object
    • while lying on your
      
      back
    • keeping the back flat and your eyes focused upward
    • 90-degree position vs. the floor
    • Piriformis
      
      Stretch
    • lateral rotation of the hip
    • change direction
    • cross your legs just
      
      as you might
    • overall flexibility
    • pull the knee toward your chest
    • while sitting in a chair
    • buttocks and hips
    • gastroc
    • propels your leg across your
      
      grounded foot while running
    • soleus
    • the back of the calf
    • back, several feet from the wall, your heel firmly
      
      positioned on the floor
    • back straight
    • keep your back foot straight and angled
      
      90 degrees from the wall
    • Gastroc
      
      Stretch
    • gastroc
    • Gently lean into the wall
    • Soleus
      
      Stretch
    • similar
      
      stretch for the soleus
    • major muscle in
      
      the calf
    • planting the foot on the ground before your push off
    • start in a
      
      "seated" position
• 05 Jul 06
  

  J D

  stretching Exercise

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