contraction

Injury Risk – Three things you can do to decrease this

When the topic of “how to decrease injury” is discussed, oftentimes ideas such as stretching, joint mobility, and core training come up.  While these are all fine and well, an idea this is often not thrown around is that of improving how well your muscles function.  However, improving this aspect of your health could be the missing link that you have been looking for to help you prevent injuries.

Before we talk about how improving muscle function could reduce your risk for injury, we have to answer a few other questions.  First, we need to identify what muscles actually do.  Second, we need to discuss how they do that thing they do.  Third, we need to talk about how doing that thing will actually help you reduce your risk for injury.  And finally, we need to leave you with some practical application steps of things you can do to start taking action now.

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By Charlie Cates, ago

Supercharge Your Stretching With This One Simple Change

I used to stretch all the time growing up.  I would stretch before I worked out.  I would stretch after I worked out.  I would stretch in the mornings.  I would stretch in the evenings.  I would stretch all the time because I wanted to improve my joint mobility and make sure that my body was prepared for my workouts.  For over a decade, stretching was a staple in my workout routine.

Despite all of that stretching, I never got to the point where I felt really flexible.  I would always feel stiff and achy.  My muscles felt chronically tight.  This persisted until I made one change to how I was doing my “stretching”. (more…)

By Charlie Cates, ago