A lot of people are joining the bandwagon these days and pick up running in order to keep a healthy and fit body. Running is good for your stamina, increases your metabolism, and gives you a feeling of being refreshed. A good run is like a cleanse that refreshes you and releases your energy and allows you to get rid of extra calories and fats. If you are still a beginner in running, you should know that a runner is best off to not just do a training run and hit the shower immediately after. A runner who knows what he is doing should do some necessary stretching exercises after the workout to make sure the body heals well of the exercise just completed. Below are some of the best stretches for runners that you should remember and get familiar with.
Among the number of stretches you can do there are two that are most important for runners to do. These prevent nasty injuries such as shin splints and Achilles tendonitis. The two most important stretches to prevent this are calf raises and heel drops. To get you more familiar of what you are up against, let us try to describe each of the two possible injuries that could inflict you if you run without performing these necessary stretches.
Shin splints usually happen to those who are new to running and push themselves too far. This kind of injury is characterized by lower leg pains either towards the inside of the lower leg which is called medial shin splints or towards the front outside part of your leg known as anterior shin splints. Therefore as a beginner in the sport of running, you should control your pacing and also your distance increases. When you increase your mileage too much or change your running terrain to harder and steeper grounds, then do not be surprised that you would feel pain in the parts of your legs that were mentioned.
The other injury called Achilles Tendonitis is characterized by pain just over the back of your heel. This injury can cause small tears within the tendon which makes it susceptible to rupture. This injury can be caused due to similar reasons like shin splints such as excessive mileage, too much leg work and working in too much speed. Therefore it is even possible that when you get one injury, you could also get the other.
So to prevent them from happening, you need to equip your legs with the necessary muscles. It is best to do these running stretches after your running training. Static stretches like the ones I am describing here can do damage to cold muscles, reason why you should not do them before your workout. Do them after your run when you are completely warmed up and then these running stretches are going to be very beneficial.
Best Stretches for Runners #1: Heel Drops
The best stretches for runners are incredibly simple to do. For instance, for heel drops all you need to do is position yourself on a curb with your front foot. Then drop your heels and stay in that position five seconds before you lift it again. You can repeat this around 5 to 10 times. Heel drops are important to prevent Achilles Tendonitis.
Best Stretches for Runners #2: Calf Raises
To prevent shin splints, you need to do something called a calf raise. This is done by standing on the floor and lifting your heels. This is done for about 10 seconds and drop it again, and then you can repeat them for 5 to 10 times.
Now, I am a long time runner and the last few years I have been pretty bad with doing all my stretches. You get a little older, a little lazier, I don't know what it is. But I have never stopped doing my heel raises and calf drops. I believe it is due to those stretches that I have not had any lower leg injuries for as long as I can remember. There are more important running stretches you can do, but if anything, I would absolutely recommend doing these stretches every time after a run and you can prevent the worst lower leg injuries from ever happening to you.
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