Stretching

[KD126712]

Hey ya'll! I've been pretty consistent, stretching after every run with these simple stretches: nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

But what do you do for stretching? And when? Before? After? Both?

[MarlyParly Graduate]

I always do stretches similar to these plus some extra ones to loosen my Achilles after every run. I don't stretch before as I think it's safer & more effective when my body is fully active & warm after a run

[hilbean Graduate]

Same as MarlyParly. I stretch after running, similar to the ones you do. I don't stretch before although I do a warm up walk of around 5 minutes before starting to run. If you want to do stretching beforehand you'll need to do active stretches rather than the static ones you do at the end.

[hhphillips]

Good morning KD126712, I do two yoga workouts, one before excercising and one afterwards. I find this lady very good. It gives me a well round exercise program. I hope it can work for you.

I also use her other videos on the days when I'm not pushing so hard. The videos are free, just create a profile and it will start a file for you on what you watched. I want to do some yoga before I go to sleep but I haven't develop a routine around that yet.

Here are the links:

Pre-work out pratice for athletes

grokker.com/yoga/video/yoga...

Post-work out pratice for athletes

grokker.com/yoga/video/yoga-for-athletes-post-workout-practice/52f57f13b3891a5e5d0b

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I reckon that if you continue with running, then some sort of stretching is a good idea. However, the NHS C25K programme is a good one and builds in what I feel is a very useful *mental* as well as physical preparation and recovery walk and for many people that will be quite sufficient for quite some time. (I have occasionally felt a real need to stretch after a run... and I realised it was always when I had severely skimped on the 5 minutes walk at the end)

One of the reasons I did not try running before is that I had witnessed relatives doing a lot of stretching before and after and generally turning a run session into a whole lot of fuss... plus I have had some very bad experiences with stretching due to my particular health problems. At the time I started I could choose to run or I could choose to stretch and I chose running.

I do now stretch - 10 minutes of gentle yoga first thing every morning, guided by the sort of areas runners need to take care of, and try to do more at other times.

I have noticed that my running relatives (and they are competing so they are pretty serious) seem to have dropped a lot of their 'with their run' stretches...

[lynne7 Graduate]

I recently downloaded a 10K app (Ease into 10K) and there is a stretching app with it which I really like. I never did pre-run stretching when I was doing C25K, I just did the NHS post run stretches, but I have to say I think this app is much better. It includes a 5 minute pre-run video and a 5 minute post-run video, both with music, and it talks you through all the moves. Worth checking it out at just £1.49! bluefinapps.com/5-min-stret...

[Hidden]

I don't stretch before I run, but always after.

Pre-running stretching is one of those constantly debated things - a while back, everyone said you should, now everyone says there's no need.

Rather than stretch the muscles before running, my warm-up jog includes heel-flicks, high-knees, and sidestepping, which helps to loosen my joints up a bit (which get a bit stiff at my age!)

[Returning2Run Graduate]

I do active stretches before a run, which I find really helpful for releasing some tension from my hip flexors which I've had issues with before. Here is a link to what I do before my five minute warm up walk- kinetic-revolution.com/runn...

I do static stretches when I get home and also foam roll which helps relax everything out.

[goonkeepgoing Graduate]

I have a little warm up routine (active stretching) that takes me about 2 minutes max, I then 'fast walk' for a minute or so and then I run. After, I do a couple of minutes cool down walk and up to 5 minutes of stretching.

[KD126712]

Thank you for all the wonderful responses!! I know there is a lot of debate about stretching, but I've definitely heard the active before, static after debate. I will definitely look into yoga and some of the active stretches ya'll mentioned. Thank you so much for those links too. I'll have to start my research