Stretching for a Higher Intensity Run

     When you are running on a treadmill, it is important that you do not lose focus of your goal. There are a lot of people that feel they can just slow down the machine or can decrease the incline as soon as they start to feel any discomfort.

Although you have to know the limits of your body, you also have to know how hard you need to push yourself to see results. The results that many people are looking for will not come from a workout that does not have any discomfort.

The reason that your body is not where you want it to be is because you have been too comfortable for too long. Taking the time to make sure that you understand what your body needs to do to get your results is absolutely necessary.

If you begin to experience pain or swelling in your joints when you are running or even after you are running, you have to make sure that you take care of yourself. If you are not taking care of yourself you are going to be completing very self-defeating workouts.

You want to make sure that before you even step on the treadmill you are going to be stretching your body. When you are stretching you should be hitting all of the major muscle groups in your body because you will be using all of these muscles.

Many people do not realize that while they are on a treadmill they are going to be many more muscles than just the muscles in your legs. Even when you are not using some muscles they will experience the jolts and shocks of your steps.

Stretching your neck and your back will prove to be very useful as you are running. Many runners tighten the muscles in their back to pull their shoulders back or tighten the muscles in their neck because they feel the tension of their run.

As you are tensing up your neck and your back you want to make sure that they have been properly stretched. It is very easy to hurt one of the many muscles that are in your neck or even in your back.

Stretching your back and your neck for a run can be somewhat challenging. Many people do not know how to properly stretch their back or even their neck so they avoid doing any stretch at all out of fear of hurting themselves during the stretch.

An easy way to start stretching the muscles in your lower back is by stretching your hamstrings. Many of these hamstring stretches will also give your lower back a great stretch and as you feel the stretch in your lower back try to focus on those muscles.

Eventually you will learn how to stretch those muscles through your hamstring stretches. When you are done stretching your lower back you can curve your back into the shape of a c and stretch both of your arms forward.

This means that you should be curving your back out behind your body envisioning your belly button reaching back to your spine. When you are in this position you can then lower your head down to your chest and feel the stretch throughout your back.

This type of stretch is not going to give your lower back a stretch but rather your mid back and the top of your back. These muscles are very important to stretch because they will be tense if your shoulder blades are being pulled back in your run.

After you have stretched this portion of your back you should make sure that you stretch your neck adequately. A common mistake that is made when stretching ones neck is that they move their head around in complete circles.

You want to make sure that you are only stretching your neck around in half circles. When you push your head all the way around into a full circle you can actually be doing more damage than stretching.

When your neck or you back hurt you will experience a lot of pain during your run. Keeping yourself ready for the treadmill requires you to stretch the muscles in your neck and in your back before each of your runs.

If you have never stretched before, you may find a new level of intensity that you are able to achieve. Running on a treadmill can be a great workout and with these new stretches you may be able to bring your workout to the next level.

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