How To Know If You Are Stretching Wrong?
You’re stretching, which is excellent, but are you doing it correctly? Peek below to learn how to do it and if you’re stretching wrong.
Common Ways You May Be Stretching Wrong
-You Might Be Only Stretching Post-Workout.
Many people stretch at the end of their workout but forget to do it at the beginning. You shouldn’t only limit stretching exercises to after weights or a run. Do it beforehand to loosen your muscles and increase your range of motion.
-You Don’t Warm Up First.
Jumping (literally) into the pre-workout stretches without a proper warm-up can set you up for more pain than gain. Before you get into your mini stretch set, always include a warm-up.
-You’re doing the Wrong Type of Stretch
Doing the wrong stretch at the wrong time can result in injury during either your stretch or workout.
-You Hold Your Stretches Too Long (Or Not Long Enough).
Not holding a stretch long enough can render it ineffective, but too long can actually make you stiffer, putting you at risk of injury. The safest bet is 30 seconds per stretch, which will work to lengthen your tissue and muscle fibers.
Recap: Warm-up and do dynamic stretching before your workout, and prepare your mind and body for the exercise ahead. After you’ve finished and cooled down, implement some static or moving stretching to jump-start muscle recovery. Doing both will do you big favors by making you less stiff and prone to injury. Ready, set, stretch!
Afterburn effect
The afterburn effect is also known as the oxygen debt. Its scientific name is excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. By definition, the afterburn effect is the amount of oxygen required to bring the body functions back to a resting state.
During intense exercises projected to burn body calories and keep the body fit, the metabolic rate increases. After the exercise, your metabolism rate doesn’t go back to resting phase immediately, however, it remains elevated for some time. This in turn causes an increase in calorie burn, even after you’ve done some stretching, showered and eaten post-workout snacks.
To be specific, the additional energy expenditure occurring after the workout is called afterburn effect.
Its important to be mindful of this and make sure you supplement yourself after a workout. Consuming too little will lead to cravings to overeat later in the day due to your body burning more calories then normal. 20 grams of protein with one serving of carbs is recommended after a workout.
When and how does the afterburn effect occur?
Increased physical activity makes the muscles increase demand for oxygen that oxidizes the carbohydrates and the fats, producing some significant energy required for movement.
Oxygen debt occurs during an intense exercise, the body will require more oxygen than breathing could provide. The gap in demand for oxygen by the muscles and the actual available oxygen delivered stimulates the afterburn effect.
The advantage of the afterburn effect is that this fascinating activity by the body burns extra calories in your body the right way. How to do this? Train hard and intensely (not forgetting proper technique obviously), and incorporate high intensity aerobic exercise and/or HIIT into your program.
