The Big Benefits of Stretch

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In a nut shell, stretching is great for you! But you knew that right? Check out the reasons to get some kind of stretching into your life…
 

1. Stretching Reduces Pain
Tight muscles cause pain! They cause parts of the body to be pulled in the wrong directions, example, tight hamstrings can cause the pelvis to be pulled down creating pressure and pain on the lower back. Stretching out tight muscles will relieve this pain and make you feel a whole lot better. It could also help you avoid surgery and everyone wants that, right?! 

2. Stretching Helps You Compete as an Athlete
Whether you’re a Pro Baller or a Weekend Warrior, you want to be the best you can be at your sport, right? Of course! Regular stretching gets the blood and therefore oxygen and nutrients flowing quickly through your body This boosts performance, keeps you going for longer and reduces post-workout soreness. 

3. Stretching Combats Stress
We all get stressed, some of us more than others. Stress restricts the blood flow and causes tension in your muscles and lower back. Stretching stimulates receptors in the nervous system that decrease the production of stress hormones and stretching out those tight muscles brings physical and mental relief. 

4. Stretching Improves Health
Because it increases circulation and gets the blood flowing, stretching can be seriously good for your overall health! Good circulation produces vigorous cell growth and improved organ functioning. Well-functioning circulation keeps the heart rate lower and protects against high blood pressure and heart disease.

The moral of the story? Get your stretch on guys! Whether you do it alone, with a partner, in a class or with us down at StretchSPOT, clear out a little patch of time in your schedule to stretch and you will reap the rewards.

Sitting Pretty: 3 Ways to Stop Back Pain When Sitting All Day

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It’s sometimes unavoidable that you’ll wind up sitting on a chair for hours on end, especially if you work a desk job. You could stay comfortable staying in the same position for a little while, but all that sitting will start doing some damage.  

Sitting in an office chair all day causes or worsens existing back problems. The stationary position can increase stress on your shoulders, arms, and back and even cause increased pressure on your spinal discs. This could exacerbate conditions, such as sciatica, and cause herniated discs.

Although activities like company-sponsored wellness programs go a long way in helping your back, you have other means to find relief from pain.

Here are three ways you can reduce back pain from sitting at your desk.

1. Set Up Your Workplace Just Right

A big contributor to back pain is how your workstation is set up. The height of your chair is relative to your desk, and your computer monitor is critical in making you as comfortable as possible. If your workstation isn’t set up the right way, you’ll find yourself hunched over your keyboard, neck craned forward, and your shoulders shrugged. All of these put undue stress on your frame, which lead to back pain.

Make sure your chair and monitor are at the right height. This keeps your head at eye level, removing pressure from your neck, and your arms parallel to the ground, guaranteeing your shoulders are loose instead of hunched.

2. Sit Up the Right Way

The way you sit on your chair is just as important as its height. Good posture, even when seated, keeps your skeletal system aligned correctly. This also reduces the strain on your joints and ligaments.

When sitting, you should do so with your shoulders back and your back straight. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed on both of your hips. Press your feet flat on the floor and check that your knees are bent at right angles. Remember that when turning around, don’t twist your body at the waist. It’s better for your posture if you turn your whole body to view a different direction. Prevent muscles and joints discomfort by standing up every 30 minutes or so, and perhaps even stretch a little.

3. Stay Stretchy

Stretching conveys numerous health benefits, if you do it regularly. For example, it increases blood flow and nutrient input to your muscles, oxygenating and nourishing them to prevent atrophy.

When you’ve been seated for a long while, perhaps an hour, here are some basic stretches to reinvigorate your body.

  • Stand straight and arch your torso backward, applying pressure on your lower back. Hold position for 15-20 seconds.
  • Stay on your seat and raise your left arm over your head. Lean toward the right side until you feel your side stretch. Hold the position for 15-20 seconds. Repeat for the right arm.
  • While seated, pull up one knee to your chest until you can feel the muscles on your lower back and hip stretch. Hold it in place with both hands for 15-20 seconds. Repeat for the other knee.

You don’t have to sacrifice wellness in the workplace. By following these three tips, you can prevent your job from damaging your back and your health. When it comes to keeping your body comfortable, every little thing counts, from your chair height to your stretches.

For better results on the benefits of stretching, get guidance from the professionals.

Flexibility and Freedom

Stretch Spot can partner with companies to help your employees limber up and be free from the effects of bad posture. We offer custom-built wellness programs that can fit into your time and budget.

Contact us today and help keep your employees flexible and free.

overhead shot of ginger, turmeric and vitamin pills on a blue background

Supplements for Healthy Joints

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There are tons of ways to help yourself maintain flexibility and balance in life! Exercising, eating the right foods, getting enough rest, stretching out, and practicing meditation are all good methods if flexibility is your goal. Another way to help your body is with vitamins. Below are three supplements we think will help you on your quest towards a more flexible life.

TURMERIC
Turmeric is an ancient spice used for thousands of years in Eastern medicine. It is an attractive plant having a pink flower but it actually the bright orange root that is used medicinally. The powder we see used in cooking, and now in vitamins, is the ground root of the plant. Recently, we in the West have woken up to the wonderful health benefits of this spice. Why is this? What’s so wonderful about turmeric? With regards to joint health, turmeric is awesome because of its anti-inflammatory properties. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin which has the ability to block out an enzyme that causes inflammation in the body. Great news for those suffering from arthritis! It is now believed that inflammation plays a massive part in many diseases prevalent in the Western world including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. 

So, how can you get turmeric into your body?
Turmeric is poorly absorbed by the body and you would need to eat a huge amount of it to get the health benefits we described above. Not to worry, turmeric vitamin supplements are now readily available. Make sure capsules are of a high enough strength. You should be taking 500-1000mg of the active ingredient curcumin per day. One other thing to note is that black pepper increases the body’s absorption rate of this vitamin. Many turmeric supplements contain black pepper which helps with absorption. If not, try taking a whole black peppercorn with your tablets. For more information on the health benefits of turmeric click here.

TART CHERRIES
Tart cherries, or as they are sometimes known, sour cherries, have a multitude of health benefits. For joint health we are particularly interested in the fact that they contain anthocyanins and bioflavonoids which inhibit certain enzymes that cause bodily inflammation. They are believed to act in a similar way to aspirin or ibuprofen but with no side effects. In addition, tart cherries contain melatonin that promotes restful sleep. Often those with joint pain are continually woken by pains and don’t get enough sleep. This could be of benefit twofold.

How do you get this good stuff inside you?
Two 8oz glasses of Montmorency cherry juice per day will suffice. Alternatively, 2 tablespoons of concentrated juice will work. Don’t like juice or want to avoid the sugars? Tart cherry juice is available in a capsule form as well.

COLLAGEN
Collagen comes from the Greek word kola meaning glue, and in a real sense, collagen is the glue that holds our bodies together. Collagen is the most abundant protein in our bodies but by age 21 our body’s supply begins to deplete.

So how can collagen help us in our quest for flexibility?
Having enough collagen ensures that joints, bones, tendons, cartilage as well as skin and hair can self-renew effectively. Collagen studies have shown that oral supplements of collagen can prevent and even reverse the effects of collagen loss and alleviate joint pain and injury associated with high-impact exercise. More great news for those suffering from arthritis! In a study over 120 days, healthy subjects who experienced joint pain saw significant improvements in joint function and flexibility as a result of taking collagen supplements. Click here for more in-depth details.

man doing hiit training on red stairs

Recovering from HIIT Training: Five Important Reminders

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There are many benefits to doing High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT. At least one study proves that an exercise regimen composed of short bursts of high-intensity exercise with a post-exercise recovery period can improve your heart health, lower cholesterol, stabilize sugar levels, reduce fat and increase muscle mass. But to fully reap the benefits of HIIT, your body must recover.

In this article, we give you five effective ways to recover from your HIIT training.

1. Get Some Rest

After your HIIT session, it’s crucial that you rest. Note that when you subject your muscles to an extreme workout, they develop tiny rips or micro-tears in the muscle fibers. As you sleep, your body works to repair these micro-tears, making your muscles stronger. This healing process is called hypertrophy. You need at least 6 hours of sleep after a HIIT session for your body to fully repair and grow the muscle fibers.

Another reason to have enough sleep after HIIT is that a lack of it can slow your metabolism and make you crave carbohydrate-rich foods for energy.

2. Drink Up

By drinking up, we mean water—lots of it. As you engage in any physical activity, your body sweats to cool itself down, and you lose useful electrolytes. More than quenching your thirst, rehydrating is essential as you lose both water and electrolytes when doing HIIT. Water is likewise vital in maintaining your flexibility, which will help you minimize or avoid post-HIIT injuries. While plain cool water is enough to help you rehydrate, you can also consume an electrolyte drink to speed up electrolyte replenishment. If you can get it, you can go for coconut water—it’s the better, all-natural electrolyte drink.   

3. Pack in the Proteins

Another essential part of recovery after HIIT is having a meal that is high in protein and carbohydrates. You’ll need this to replenish your body’s protein stores. Although a HIIT session burns up your body fat, it may soon resort to consuming available muscle tissue for energy. To avoid losing muscle mass instead of gaining it, be sure to have enough protein—whether from a meal or a quality protein shake, and have it within an hour after your workout.

4. Perform Active Recovery

If you’re not too sore from the last HIIT session, you may opt to do an active recovery workout. This is a low-intensity workout that reduces the lactic acid present in the muscles and cuts down on post-HIIT soreness and stiffness. Doing a vigorous recovery workout also increases blood flow to your joints and muscles, minimizing swelling. If your muscles are too sore for this sort of low-intensity exercise, you can do a yoga session instead.

5. Get Stretched

The intensity of a HIIT session causes many muscles to do more contractions than average, leaving them compacted and shorter than usual. Stretching will help your muscles return to their original state, and keep them from stiffening up. You should do static stretches, or stretches that require you to extend your muscles, then hold that position for 25 to 30 seconds.  

Recovery is important to reap the benefits of HIIT sessions fully. If you don’t get enough rest or don’t consume enough protein after doing HIIT, you run the risk of losing muscle mass or worse, not losing stubborn fat. After a punishing HIIT session, you need to get enough sleep, eat the right food, drink enough water and stretch—do these recovery measures properly to avoid undermining your efforts.