Good Mood Diet Articles

Alice Lockridge, Physical Activity expert, MS PhysEd, Exercise Physiologist
with Liz Diether-Martin, Editor of The Good Mood Diet web site

How often have you heard the saying, “Use it or lose it?” And how often have you stretched your arms straight over your head and held them there for 60 seconds? If you’re like most people, you’ve heard the saying way more than you’ve done the stretch.

As a fitness instructor, I remind my clients that it’s a good idea to stretch every day even if they don’t do any other exercises. Stretching is also an integral part of a workout program:

• As the second part of the warm-up before any brisk physical activity. All it takes is a little walking for 5 minutes and a few static stretches (static means the stretch is held still) involving your shoulders, back, hips and calves. This combination enables your walking muscles to create heat to send to the stretched joints, readying them for more intense activity. With a quick warm-up you’ll feel better and be more apt to burn more calories during your workout. It also gives you an opportunity to notice sore spots or injured areas that need to be cared for before you work out. Try the stretches listed below, holding each stretch at least 10 seconds to produce the desired warm-up effect.


• During the cool-down phase after any vigorous physical activity, work or exercise. The following exercises are good for helping your muscles recover after a bout of intense or unfamiliar activity. Holding stretches for at least 10 seconds after workout helps you cool down and flush out metabolic waste products that are built up during the activity. Holding stretches for at least 60 seconds is needed if you want to increase your flexibility and ability to move through a larger range-of-motion. Pick one of these exercises to hold for the full minute each time you cool down to help you reach greater flexibility.

With all stretches, being careful with your body is key. Stretch slowly and hold still at the point where you feel a slight sensation of stretching. Never pull on a body part or bounce or jerk when stretching. Stretching should be a smooth action, not a quick or forceful action that could tear or injure the muscles. Abrupt, forceful stretches are counter-productive. Our bodies automatically respond to abrupt stretches by contracting the muscle. This protective response, called the Stretch-Contract Reflex, tries to prevent us from tearing our muscles.

Remember it this way: “Never stretch with a jerk!”

For each of these exercises, I’ll point out the ultimate goal. You may not be able to get there at first, but keep the goal in mind each time you stretch to help you have the most correct form.

Shoulder flexion

1. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor.
2. Reach your arms straight up over your head until they reach the floor.
3. Relax your arms and shoulder and lie passively.

The goal is to keep your arms narrow, alongside your head, elbows straight, with the length of your arms and your wrists touching the floor. Pay attention to your lower back and hold it in a neutral position without a huge arch underneath. If reaching your arms overhead pulls your back up into an arch, use your abdominal muscles to do a pelvic tilt to hold your trunk still.

Spinal twist

1. Lie on your back with your arms spread wide.
2. With one leg extended on the floor, bend the other knee and move it over and across your body and your straightened leg, trying to put your bent knee to the floor.
3. Relax and be passive, letting the weight of your leg and arms stretch your back muscles.
4. Pull your leg back and repeat, going the other direction with the other leg.

The long-term goal is to have both shoulders on the floor while your knee touches the floor. At first both may be off the floor and hovering. Be patient and let your body adjust to this new twist!

Spinal side bend

1. Sit on the floor with your legs either crossed or slightly bent.
2. Reach up with one arm, across your head toward the other side of the ceiling, keeping your elbow straightened.

The goal is to laterally bend your spine to 30 degrees and to stretch the muscles between your armpit and hip. Check your position: If you had keys in your upper hand and dropped them, they’d miss your head, but would drop straight to the floor on the opposite side of your body.

Spinal forward hang

1. While sitting with legs either crossed or slightly bent, let your arms hang loosely toward the floor.
2. Round your back and move your chin toward the floor.

The goal is to move your head as far from your tailbone as possible and make your back as round as possible.

Hamstring hug

1. Lie on your back and extend one leg on the floor.
2. Lift the other leg, with your hands behind your knee (on the back of your thigh not smashing your knee into hyperflexion).
3. Hug your thigh against your belly. Hold for 10 seconds.
4. Slowly straighten your knee, moving your foot up into sight while maintaining the hug of your thigh. Hold for 10 more seconds in a position just before the place that makes your leg “shake like a Chihuahua.” It should be a passive-held stretch not a tug-of-war!

The goal is to stretch the fibers of your hamstring that cross both your hip and the back of your knee. Normal range-of-motion is to be able to lift your leg, with your hip bent to a 90-degree angle, and have your knee straight. The ultimate position would be to have your leg move closer toward your face. Take care to avoid over-flexing your knee during the first part of this stretch. This stretch should be used to replace touching your toes from standing or seated positions.

Calf stretch – straight knee

1. While standing, position your right foot flat on the floor, pointing straight forward. This is the hard part. Your back foot will try to point outward, toward the side wall to avoid getting any stretch in your calf muscle.
2. Shift your weight back onto your right heel and gently take a normal step forward with your left foot. You don't have to be in a tight-rope walker's stance so step wide enough to maintain your balance.
3. With your right heel still on the floor, move your head and hips forward, away from your back heel and hold for at least 10 seconds.
4. Relax and repeat with the left leg in the back.

The goal is to stretch the gastrocnemius (the big calf muscle) so that the stretch sensation is in the belly, or the wide part of the muscle close to your knee. You should feel less of a stretch in the Achilles tendon, the big ropey tendon that attaches to your heel. Note: If these two calf stretches are too confusing to be done correctly, there is a great little blue calf stretch gadget made with a curved bottom that will keep you in the correct position and allow you to stretch longer and more comfortably.

Calf stretch – bent knee

1. While standing, position your right foot flat on the floor, pointing straight forward.
2. Shift your weight back onto your right heel and take a small step forward with your left foot so that the left foot is only slightly ahead of the right one. Again, step wide enough to maintain your balance.
3. Bend both knees and hips in a semi-squat, keeping most of your body weight on your right foot. Hold for at least 10 seconds.
4. Relax and repeat with the left leg in the back.

The goal is to stretch a much-underrated second muscle at the back of your calf. It's the soleus and it is much shorter than the gastrocnemius and only reaches up a few inches above your heel. Calf injuries are one of the most common for adults starting a new physical activity so don’t skip this stretch. Tight calf muscles can become injured and put a halt to your daily physical activity.