T.G.I.F

Gosh am I glad it's Friday!  It's been a long weekend for me even with having Monday off because of Labor Day.  PT has been pretty tough for me this week.  We've been running every day.  Between Tuesday through today, I've ran around 9-10 miles.  I strained my hamstring on Tuesday from sprints and it didn't help as we continued sprints on Wednesday.  I was able to get through by stretching my legs many times throughout the days. Stretching is one of the most important parts of exercise.  If you don't stretch right it could really ruin your whole workout.  Here are a few stretches that I used to get myself back to speed.  There are several different ways to stretch the hamstring but these are what I found that fits me best.

Standing Hamstring Stretch #1

This is a good one to do before doing any exercises.  What you do is bend over until you touch your toes. (You can bend you knees if you need to.)  Once you are touching your toes, try to straighten your legs.  You will feel that back muscle tighten a little but remember it shouldn't feel painful.  Stretching is suppose to help not hurt.  =)

Standing Hamstring #2

This is a good stretch to do after you exercise.  It is stretching the same muscle but you are keeping your head up and elevated.  The worst thing you could do is bring your head down after a hard workout and have all that blood rush to your head.  It could lead to lots of dizziness and it could make you feel even more faint.  For this stretch just extend one leg outwards points your toes up.  Then slowly bend the opposite leg and you should feel that hamstring tighten some.  Remember to always stretch twice as long after your workout.

Hamstring Stretch sitting

If you find it difficult to stay standing after your exercising, this is a good stretch to do as well.  You still have your head elevated to stop from getting very dizzy or faint and still stretching that same muscle.  For this stretch just bring one leg inwards with the other leg extended all the way out toes pointed upwards.  Then extend your arms all the way out as you try to reach your toes on your extended leg.  

I hope you enjoyed my little stretching brief.  =)  It really helped me a lot especially for today on our 3 mile run which turned to 4.  I feel real good though. I never thought I could improve so much physically in such a short time.  I think I'll be more than ready for the PT test on the 27th if I keep up like this.  

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Stay blessed ya'll!