So before pregnancy I was a stretching champ. I knew when my body felt tight and I knew how to prevent it from getting to the point where I could be injured or in pain. I had good habits set in place to stretch at the end of my workouts. And not just the kind of “stretching” where you sit on a mat at the gym and stick one leg out and scroll through your instagram. Like real- productive, focused stretching.
But then I got pregnant.
And working out was hard.
So I would barely do anything in the first trimester. And when I could manage a workout- I could NOT wrap my head around adding on another ten minutes of stretching. I had napping to do and I wasn’t about to wait. So that broke my habit… and once I started working out again I just wasn’t in the habit of stretching. And on top of that I also had the mindset that I wasn’t doing anything that intense… so my body would be just fine.
EEK.
Pregnant or not, here’s what you need to know about stretching.
It IS that important.
Stretching is one of those things that you may or may not notice benefits from right away. If you are consistently in the gym your body is used to the strain and you probably aren’t as sore as a person who is just starting. On the flip side of that- if you are the type that never stretches you have no idea what you are missing. Stretching improvements take TIME to notice but once you see the results you won’t be able to go back to your formally tight self.
Don’t wait until you feel tight to stretch.
Stretching shouldn’t be done as a “fix”… It should be done to prevent the tightness or injury. So instead of waiting to feel the need to stretch, create the habit of spending 5 minutes at the end of your workout to purposefully stretch. Pick 5 stretches and hold each one for a minute. That’s a great way to ease yourself in without going overboard. The more you practice, the more you can play with how you like to stretch.
What is purposeful stretching?
It’s exactly what it sounds like… purposeful. This means that stretching is done with intention. Not with your phone in your hand, not adjusting your music, sometimes not even talking to the friend sitting next to you. It means you are focusing on listening to your body. Can you sink deeper? Do you need to pull back a little bit? Breathing into the stretch and letting your body respond to the movement is key. But it’s not something that can be done when you are not willing to silence the distractions and listen to what your body is saying.
Once you start, you won’t WANT to stop
Stretching gets such a bad rap. And I know, because it’s not my most favorite activity either. But I do know that regardless of how “un-fun” or “un-exciting” it is, once you start you will not want to stop. When we are in the habit of not stretching, we don’t even know what we are missing. When we get our body loosened up, it doesn’t feel good to stop stretching and experience being tight and stiff again. So yea, it can be hard to get into a habit. But just like all things in life, it is WORTH it and you will be glad you started when you did.
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