ARTICLES, TIPS, TRAINING & GENERAL ADVICE

Stretching Recommendations

by Lisa Sabin, December 30, 2007

Stretching can help avoid tight muscles and injuries.  The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 10 minutes of stretching 3-4 times per week or on days that you engage in strength training or aerobic activity.

How To Stretch:  Gently stretch the muscles statically, holding for 10-30 seconds.  Repeat each stretch 3-4 times

Never Bounce: Bouncing doesn’t increase flexibility and has a greater risk for injury.

When To Stretch:  Stretching cold muscles isn’t very effective.  It’s a good idea to do warm up the muscles through aerobic activity before stretching.  Stretching after your work out is the best time to stretch.

Benefits Of Stretching:  Stretching helps prevent delayed on-set muscles soreness.  Stretching helps maintain normal flexibility.  Relaxed muscles are able to perform more efficiently.

Some basic stretches for runners include:

Calf Stretch - Stand about 3 feet from a wall, bring one leg forward into a lunge position, press the back foot down towards the ground stretching the gastronemius and soleus muscles. Stretch both legs.

Achilles Stretch - Place one foot on a wall or a curb, bring the heel towards the ground and the toes up, stretching the achilles tendon. Stretch both legs.

Hamstring Stretch - Place one foot on a step or a bench, depending on flexibility, with the toes up. Lean forward from the hips equally to stretch the hamstrings. Stretch both legs.

Quadraceps Stretch - Stand holding onto a wall for support with one hand, hold the opposite leg with the other hand. Bring the heel of the lifted foot towards the buttocks to stretch the quadraceps. Stretch both legs.

Illiotibial Band Stretch - Lie on your back, bring one leg across your body(it’s okay to bend your knee)towards the floor, turn your head the opposite direction of the crossed knee to stretch the illiotibial band. Stretch both legs.

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Join the Brooks Run Happy Challenges!

October 28, 2008 by Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sweat365 and Brooks Sports have teamed up to create the Brooks Run Happy Group.

As a member of the Brooks Run Happy Group you can join challenges (for prizes!), easily track your workouts, blog about what makes you Run Happy, and connect with other runners and Brooks enthusiasts. This coming November-January, we’ll be offering monthly prizes of Brooks running shoes and apparel for the most miles run,the most calories burned, and the most hours exercised.

Join The Brooks Run Happy Group at Sweat 365 Today!

Run Happy!

Sweat365 and Brooks Sports

August 5, 2008 by Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sweat365 is very excited to announce a new partnership with Brooks® Sports.

Brooks is a leading running company that designs and markets a line of high-performance running shoes, apparel and accessories. Entirely focused on the run, Brooks is dedicated to inspiring people to run and be active. Sweat365 is dedicated to supporting your everyday fitness, no matter what your level and no matter what your goals.  At Sweat365, we are honored to work with a partner like Brooks that shares a common vision of inspiring people to reach their fitness goals.

Sweat365 will be powering the social media platform for Brooks. In addition to providing Brooks with a fully hosted state of the art social media publishing platform and access to a growing community of everyday athletes, over the next several months we will work closely with Brooks to deliver several exciting new programs for them to engage with their customers using the Sweat365 platform. Stay tuned for more.

In the mean time, please check out the new Brooks Blog at http://talk.brooksrunning.com.

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