Question about stretching

buckeyegirl0103

I am currently in W4 of the C25K- I have always stretched before and after the training. And, I drink lots of water-before and after. My question is, I can feel my left leg is "tighter" than my right. It doesn't stretch as easy or a far as my right one can. It also hurts more after the run than the right. Is there some better stretches than I can do to try and loosen it up? Where it hurts the most after a run is through the thighs-

Thanks!

Drastiic

I don't have much experience, but I have read a lot. Most sites/people suggest stretching after a run instead of before. If you do want to do stretches before, they suggest dynamic instead of static. Static is reserved for after a run.Wikipedia lists a whole bunch of dynamic stretches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_stretching

I usually just do about 10-20 body weight squats and/or lunges plus warm-up walk. As for the other questions, I just don't have the expertise to answer with confidence so I won't speculate.

cavewoman15

i stretch before and after, for about 10 minutes. i do each stretch twice, and for real tight areas i do the stretch three times. for me, it's my hip flexors, hamstrings, and Achilles' tendons. also make sure you are warming up (C25K recommends 5 minutes walking before you start jogging) and cool down (same). for me, these things are ESSENTIAL to not getting injured. i also ice sore things when i'm running a lot.

buckeyegirl0103

Thanks! I printed off the examples and will try them over the weekend and see how they feel!

fteale

You need to identify which muscle is tighter and stretch that. I have problems with my anterior tibialis which causes inner calf and foot pain, caused by having very high arches. Normal stretching isn't going to help that, I have to do specific stretches for that muscle group. My best friend has ITB pain, he has to do stretches for that. So find out which the tight muscle is then seek advice for that muscle.

armadden

I usually do a warm up jog---SLOW 400-800m jog then stretch your muscles are warm then giving you a "better" stretch. I have always learned that you shouldn't stretch cold muscles. I do a cool down jog as well and then stretch again. Seems to have worked for me this far ( I mean through 2 different college sports)

Drastiic

When I was doing a lot of walking on a strength training day (calf-raises), I had issues with my calves tightening up and feeling like they would explode at the 10-15 min mark of walking. This happened every single time, so I would have to stop walking and do static calf stretches for about a minute. After that, I had no issues for the rest of the duration. I concluded that I needed a longer warm-up than 5 minutes.