Back in high school, I was a competitive cheerleading coach (and a competitive cheerleader myself). I remember telling my cheerleaders how important it was for them to practice stretching exercises often to improve their flexibility, and how I stretched every single day. Here am I, over a dozen years later, and while I'm no longer throwing girls in the air for stunts and memorizing choreography routines, stretching is still a practice that I implement into my active life on a daily basis. Some ways that stretching improves your health include: While you know that stretching obviously improves flexibility, it also improves the range of motion in your joints and blood flow to the muscles. This is why stretching can decrease risk of injury - and we all know that injuries are no ... [Read More]
stretching
5 Stretches To Do Every Morning
One of my favorite ways to start my day is with a quick yoga session or HIIT workout. Getting moving first thing in my morning - usually before checking email or eating breakfast if I can - makes me feel energized and gets those endorphins flowing. Some days if I don't have time for 20-30 minutes of morning exercise, I do some go-to stretches to wake me up. Today I thought I'd share them with you, because they're perfect for just a couple quick minutes of movement to stretch you out after you've spent the night in bed laying down. When I do morning yoga, I usually incorporate these stretches into my practice too. Morning stretching is thought to help improve posture for the day, eliminate muscle and joint aches & pains, and promote healthy blood flow. Plus, I think it ... [Read More]
My Favorite Stretches
Happy National Peanut Butter Lover's Day! I seriously love anything with peanut butter, and just saw that I apparently posted about this very important holiday last year. ;-) In honor of this day, I thought I'd share a few yummy PB recipes: Crispy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Treats Peanut & Broccoli Pasta Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Granola Bars Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Moving onto fitness, yesterday I was feeling achy from my workout the day before - not just sore in one spot, pretty much my entire body. This happens to me sometimes after I've had really good workouts multiple days in a row, and I usually take it as a cue to rest my body for a day. Instead of doing a high impact workout, I elected to go for a long walk with my pup, then do a solid ... [Read More]