Are you "that guy who stretches for 10 seconds and calls it a day"?

You know who you are. You've just put in a rigorous hour of cardio, chest presses and squats. Your body is taught and buff, but it's also tight and in need of stretching. So you sit down, reach for your toes, painfully slouching your shoulders. And all of ten seconds later (okay....20), you're sauntering back to the locker room.

Well hold your horses, cowboy! I have a news flash for you: if that's your idea of stretching, don't even bother! Do you even know what you're trying to accomplish with that stretch? Or is it simply something you were given by your coach or workout buddies, and you've been ending your workouts with it ever since? How much has your flexibility improved with it? Hmmm?

Now don't misunderstand. Indeed, I'm assuming your muscles are on the tight side. And I'm assuming this either gets in the way of your doing the activities you enjoy, or it's just outright uncomfortable. I'm also assuming that you know that you should stretch, and that this half-hearted post-workout move of yours is your attempt at helping yourself open those tight muscles (in this case, probably your hamstrings), or at least to prevent their worsening.

Here's the problem: Effective stretching requires two key things that are missing from the above scenario. You must safely lengthen the targeted muscle to the point that it's receiving that distinct "stretch sensation" (not pain!), and you must hold that lengthened position for a minimum of 20-30 seconds while trying to relax the muscle in question. Unfortunately, the classic sit-and-slouch move so prevalent in the gym.... will usually do more to generate tension and overflex the back (our backs already are overflexed just by virtue of all the sitting we do) than it will loosen muscles that could actually use the stretch, such as the hamstrings. To stretch correctly, you need to choose more effective, targeted positions, then allocate a tad more patience in practicing them than you've invested up until now.

So think of this the next time you've finished a workout and are about to slip back into your habitual nano-stretch. Just as you know you won't get good at running with just a minute spent on the treadmill....just as you know you won't see progress in your biceps by doing 2 bicep curls holding a Coke can, you won't accomplish much in the way of increased flexibility with an "if you blink you'll miss it" stretch attempt!