Stretching….If you know me, have trained with me, or have taken a group session of mine, you know very well that I do not take the time to stretch. Yes, if asked, I will instruct on which stretch to do, how to do it, and how long/how often. I admit, I fall short on the stretching detail. However, it has occurred to me just how many young kids are getting injuries lately. And maybe I have been completely in my own little world to not notice until now, but it is astonishing to me that young kids (8-12) are getting injuries that could be detrimental to their future. So I started doing some thinking and researching and using my common sense of why this is happening. The main topic that continually gets repeated is “inadequate stretching, warm up, over stressed musculoskeletal, constant repetitive movements.” Being a mom of two very active boys I took this to heart. Why is it my 10 year old is less flexible than his 42 year old mother? This to me is absurd! They run, they jump, they flip, they do all things crazy that make me wince at the possible outcome. But yet they are unable to to touch their toes because their hamstrings are so tight? What the what!
What it comes down to can be lack of flexibility and constant impacts of the same movements. In today’s world, kids are constantly trekked from one athletic practice to another. One, two, three sporting event games sometimes more in a week or weekend. When that season is over it’s onto the next! Or find a league that does the same one. After that, summer is here. Well you can’t just let them sit around, so sign them up for yet another sports league. Before you get your panties in a bunch,hear me out. Yes, I LOVE SPORTS! I LOVE that my boys love to play them. I LOVE watching them! And I am in no way dictating what you as parent or guardian should choose for your child. What I am saying/asking is, think back to when you were 8,9,10,11, or 12 years old. What were your activities? What did you do after school, in the summer? Me personally, I was a kid. I rode my bike, I played outside ALL DAY, BY MYSELF. I was not entertained by my parents, and I was not shuffled off from one practice to another. I had down time. And that right there is what is missing today….DOWN TIME. Time to be bored, to play with sticks, to make forts, or wait til someone would come over to play. DOWN TIME. More than a week, more than 2 weeks, like 1-2 months of non organized athleticism.
I’m hearing, and seeing young kids get adult injuries because of lack of down time.
So back to the stretching deal. Due to the lack of down time = more possible injuries, which can also be attributed to lack of flexibility. If you choose to live the routine that so many of do, of constant athletics then read up on some great points of how to prevent your all star from getting possible injuries. And after you read/research, put it to work! Take 10 min to stretch with your athlete EVERY DAY. Do yoga! Yes, I said “yoga” (once again, if you know me I am not a yoga person, just not my love) HOWEVER, I do yoga with my son and include other stretches to help him become more flexible. Personally, we skip over the intros in the yoga sessions and get to the area I want him to work on. (we use amazon prime and netflix for our yoga choice)
Ten minutes, each day that’s it. It will be worth it in the long run for them and for you! It’s been about two weeks of my son doing 10 minutes of stretching/yoga with me, and he can now touch the floor when he bends over. He still has a way to go, but it’s a start to helping his young musculoskeletal system grow and a good way to prevent any future possible injuries.
DO THE WORK!
MABFIT!