Stretching To Optimize Your Performance

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As the weather gets warmer and the snow begins to melt from our favorite hiking trails, there are some key tools you will want to take with you to the trailhead — your stretches. Anticipating that you have done some pre-season conditioning, your body should be ready to return to the glory of the summer and fall seasons in the mountains. However, no matter how fit you are, you will need to spend some time warming up and stretching before and after your hike.

Pre-hike, you will want to perform a light, five-minute warm up to increase body temperature and heart rate. Next comes dynamic stretching, which involves controlled motion (not bouncing) and is recommended for the calves, quadriceps, and hips. Research has demonstrated improved muscle performance with dynamic stretching when compared to muscles that are not stretched at all or that are stretched statically just before beginning an athletic activity. Thus, dynamic stretching following a brief warm-up would be the superior choice in preparation for your hike.

Each of the following three dynamic exercises should be performed with control 20 times.

Hip Flexors:

Stand on one leg with the opposite leg off the ground and slightly drawn forward with knee slightly bent. Quickly, yet with control, draw the leg back behind you, tightening your buttocks and straightening both the knee and the hip. Draw forward again and repeat every two seconds, ensuring control with each pull backward.

Quadriceps (thighs):

Begin walking on level ground and quickly, but with control, draw one heel toward your buttocks, contracting the muscle at the back of your thigh. Return that foot to the ground and perform on the other leg as you walk around the parking lot. Continue alternating and complete at least one leg every two seconds, 20 times per leg.

Calves:

Position yourself in a sprinter’s lunge with hands on the ground, the leg to be stretched out behind you, and the ball of the rear foot on the ground. Quickly, yet with control, draw the toes of the back foot toward you, pushing the heel further back with the knee straight. Then return to the ball of the foot and complete every two seconds, avoiding a bounce. You may modify this by placing your hands on a tree instead of the ground for a more upright position, taking the heel to the ground as you draw the toes toward you.

Though there are many more dynamic stretches you could perform to target other muscle groups, these stretches have prepared the major groups you need to address for your hike.

When your trek is complete, don’t forget the few minutes of attention your body needs for stretching as you cool down.

At this point more traditional static stretching, which involves sustained holds of individual muscle groups, is recommended to promote improved flexibility and guided recovery of soft tissues in the legs. These stretches should be performed immediately following a hike, while the tissues are still warm. Each of these stretches should be held for 30 seconds and performed three times per leg.

Calf Stretch:

Place your hands on a tree with your feet in a narrow stride stance. Toes should be pointed forward with back knee straight and heel down. Lean into your front foot until you feel a moderate stretch in the calf. Be sure the arch of your back foot does not collapse as you stretch. Hold.

Quadriceps:

Standing tall on one foot, with the opposite hand on a tree or your car for balance, grab the ankle of the opposite foot and draw toward your buttocks until you feel a moderate stretch at the front of the thigh. Be sure the knee is pointed directly toward the ground as you stretch. You may increase the intensity of the stretch by performing a pelvic tilt and tightening your abdominals. Hold.

Hip Flexors:

Place one foot on a rock, bench, or fallen tree in front of you and perform a pelvic tilt by tightening your abdominals. Keeping your trunk erect, glide your body weight from your back foot to your front foot until you feel a mild to moderate stretch at the front of the hip/thigh on the back leg. Hold.

Hamstring:

Place one foot on a rock, bench, or fallen tree in front of you with the knee straight. Standing tall and keeping your back flat, slowly bend at the hips until you feel a moderate stretch in the back of the thigh of the propped leg. Hold.

All static stretches should be performed at mild to moderate intensity and should not create pain.