Stretching

My latest addition to this year's healthy lifestyle choices was by necessity.

The closest I have suffered to an acute injury was a minor incident that strained my right knee when I went skiing almost 20 years ago. Since then, it was the first place to complain about exercise of any kind but it wasn't debilitating. Even during my fitness instructor years, that knee was nothing more than a warning sign to rest.

Over the past couple years however, the knee has begun to protest a little louder. It flares up when I try to do leg exercises, is the first place I feel discomfort during bike rides and runs, and aches constantly. I even have to be careful how I get up or down from the floor or how I bend it. This would be defined as a chronic injury. An injury that has happened to a joint, tendon, or muscle over time from repetitive use or abuse.

In our running class they had a physical therapist speak about stretching properly and although I know all this stuff, I paid close attention. She spoke about stretches that are specific to running and even addressed why "Runner's Knee" happens and how to stretch to help avoid it.

Shawn is good about doing some token stretches before bed but I admit that by the time I think about going to bed, I'm too exhausted to do more than my usual bedtime routine. I fall into bed and listen to Shawn doing his 2 minute stretch with a grunt here and a crack there knowing I should be doing it too, but well...maybe tomorrow night.

I don't know why as humans we wait until it's almost too late before we make a healthful change but the pain in my knee and my desire to continue vigorous physical activity has finally motivated me to stretch regularly before bed.

Last week I finally put a calming Enya CD in the player and went through a series of stretches that I could practically do in my sleep (which may be necessary at some point). It's not lack of know-how that has prevented me--just plain laziness. I decided that I would stretch to two songs every evening before my head hit the pillow.

It felt good and I slept better. No noticeable improvement in my knee as of yet but there are other things I can do like icing it and getting a new pair of running shoes. The point is, I'm doing something important to my long-term health & mobility by stretching my body every night. We lose flexibility as we age and often, that is how reduced movement and injuries occur.

I'm really good about washing my face, brushing my teeth and over the 1 1/2 years, I've even gotten extremely good at rubber-tipping. All these habits have helped me tremendously. I don't really need or want another thing on my to-do list before bed but this latest 5-10 minute stretch ritual is exactly what the doctor ordered.