Stretch Like an Athlete

So there are three types athletes…

Those who stretch, those who think they stretch, and those who simply don’t. So what happens if you don’t stretch, not much...right away. At first you will feel fine, you will be lifting, doing cardio, losing weight, eating less junk food, feeling like you are on top of the world. You think “I’m invincible” until you wake up one day and your hamstrings feel a bit tight, or maybe it's your lower back, you stretch it out a bit to ease the pain but it doesn’t budge. You continue training and working out and the pain lingers. Boy, do you wish that you properly stretched now. So as you may have guessed, this post is here to reintroduce stretching to your lives. If you’re like me, stretching is a tedious and fleeting afterthought. We are all so focused on getting our bodies in the best shape of our lives that we generally overlook the importance of stretching. It is too easy to do this, but stretching IS worth our time and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you all about the benefits of stretching and how it goes far beyond just preventing pulled muscles and injuries, but I’m going to do it anyways.

I want to emphasize how important it is to properly stretch. Some people say they stretch and more often than not they just end up moving a little to the right and then a little to the left and call that “stretching”.

So how does one properly stretch? 

So you first need to figure out which muscle groups commonly cause pain or tightness. This is not the same for everyone, for some people it is their shoulders, for others it’s their legs. A rule of thumb would be if it is not tight or causing any pain or tension, it does not necessarily need to be stretched. As you begin to familiarize yourself with the target muscle groups begin to balance out the flexibility training between the front and back of your body as well as the right and left side of your body. The goal is to have every part of your body feeling even and relaxed. People generally say to stretch after a cardio or strength training session as a way to keep your body limber. The thing people should consider when stretching is to keep it interesting, you don’t have to do the same exact stretches everyday nor should you. Adding variety will keep it from being monotonous and also will allow every muscle group increase flexibility.

Types of Stretches

There are two types of stretching: dynamic stretching which is great for warming up before a workout and the other is static and passive stretching which is utilized more during the cool down after a workout. When doing passive and static stretches, make sure to hold the stretch for longer than 10 seconds. You should hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds and repeat it two or three times to see or feel any real improvements regarding flexibility.

Why should you care?

It’s more than just being flexible, stretching keeps your body pain free, your muscles relaxed, and your mind at ease. I know I have been boring you with a bunch of facts and figures about stretching and it is just because I care. A 10-15 minute stretch session is all it really takes to reap all the benefits related to stretching.

5 Reasons Why You Should Fall in Love With Boxing

I have a confession, I love to punch. No, no I am not abusive or anything. But I am in love. In between jabbing and crossing and feeling the impact of my fists hitting the punching bag I came to the realization that well, I am in love with boxing.

Max Kellerman, an HBO boxing analyst, proposed that “Boxing is, in fact, everybody’s favorite sport,”  and he backs up the claim with a little social experiment, “If you come to an intersection and on four corners you see the following. On one corner, there’s a couple kids playing stickball. On the other corner, there are some guys that are shooting hoops. On a third corner, there’s a guy just standing there putting a golf ball. And on the fourth corner, there’s a fistfight. There are a hundred people at the intersection. How many people are watching anything but the fist fight?” Please do not try this experiment at home to prove Max Kellerman wrong. But the man has a point, people are drawn to excitement and sometimes that means two people hitting each other.

Lately I felt less motivated to work out, feeling like running and going to the gym were such monotonous activities. I needed a workout with a bit of a kick (literally) so one google fueled evening I was inspired to find something different, and the search led me to Urban Boxing. After my hour long session of high intensity cardio and throwing jabs, crosses, hooks, and roundhouse kicks at a punching bag, I was exhausted, sweaty, and hooked. It got me thinking, there are a million of sports out there, so why boxing?

1. Great Cardio: Firstly, boxing is a full-body exercise! Muscles all over your body from your abs, back, glutes, shoulders, biceps, deltoids, triceps, quads, hamstrings, you name it, are engaged in every movement. You dodge and throw punches, throw in kicks and knee strikes, and dance around the ring to evade your opponent. In a typical session you start off slow to cover the basics and as you go on you build up the combinations and drills making them more complex which keeps your heart rate high. Every move is  high in intensity and whether you are boxing for fitness sake or to fight you are bound to sweat. In a hour session of boxing it is estimated that people burn over 500 calories!

2. All That Confidence: In individual sports like boxing, you build a strong relationship between yourself and your body and you know your strengths and weaknesses extremely well. In the ring and in life you may be placed in difficult positions and you have two options, you can either have faith in your abilities or fear failure. Being able to carry on in the face of adversity requires a certain degree of confidence. Obviously everyone wants to win, at least that is the main objective, but also the point is also to focus on doing your best, a poor attitude in the ring or in life can set you up to lose before the first punch is even thrown.
   
   

3. 

   Stress Relief: We have heard it a thousand time, exercise reduces stress and blah blah blah. But with boxing it does more than just that. The thing I love about boxing is that it requires 100% of my focus, I never feel my mind wandering to what I am doing later that day or to the pile of work I have waiting for me at home. With boxing you need to be present or you will get punched, playfully of course.

4. Mental Strength: What I think is super cool about boxing is the link with the basic primal instincts “fight or flight”. It is the most basic and human interaction between people and it has been around forever. I have never been a violent person and I would still not describe myself as violent, but I know that before I started boxing the idea of being punched or kicked scared me. However, when you box you are forced to go against your basic instincts and face the punch straight on.

5. IT’S FUN! Everyone I have ever met and talked to after a session has told me how much fun they had! The sport never becomes boring or monotonous because there are so many skills, combinations, and techniques to master. Once the session ends people want to know more about the sport and want to grow as athletes, they are inspired to watch videos, shadowbox in their living rooms, and fantasize about the next time they get to put on the gloves and punch...or maybe that is just me.