Stretching cramped muscles or stretching for muscle cramp prevention should be done in a systematic way. The following stretching tips and tactics should point you in the right direction.

When it comes to stretching before or after an event you should stretch each of the muscle groups for at least a minute, says our resident sports massage therapist, David Joyce.

And the best way to do this is to stretch the muscle gradually, increasing the stretch every 5 to 10 seconds until you are going as far as possible and then hold it for between 45 to 60 seconds.

Daves suggestion is to perform a light 10 minute warm up at 50% effort, followed by 10 minutes of stretching. Hes found with runners, footballers and basketball players that this reduces the incidence of cramp and injury by as much as 70% especially in pre-season events when athletes arent as conditioned.

Ideally, massage followed by stretching will work better than anything, says Dave.

Of course, its hard to have a massage therapist on hand every time you train, but if you know the basics of massage therapy, as discussed in our running and muscle cramp guide, then youll be able to apply some simple principles.

The Flexibility Test

Knowing how flexible you are is a good barometer to determine if youre more likely to suffer from cramp or a range of lower leg injuries such as calf strain and Achilles injuries.

This is what you do to test the Calf (Gastrocnemius) muscle: while sitting on the ground with your legs extended and knees straight, grasp your foot and pull it toward you, applying gentle pressure you should be able to achieve an angle of 90 degrees comfortably without forcing your foot back.

You can test the Soleus muscle (the lower part of the calf muscle that attaches the ankle) in the same way but with your knees slightly bent.

Most likely it will be the Gastrocnemius muscle group that will be a little tight. And, if it is, then you need to start or expand your stretching routine.

Personally, I find I need to do more stretching and warm up in colder climates than in hot ones.

And to save time lets face it, 10 minutes is a lot of time I always start my run slowly as part of the warm up and then perform a combination stretch and yoga routine.

By adding the flexibility/yoga to the start of the program, Im able to keep my muscles warm and can easily re-establish a fast pace and without the risk of injury or cramping. After I finish, I repeat the warm up spend more time on the stretching.

The bottom line if you suffer regularly from cramps it may be time to make a stretching and flexibility routine a part of your workout. And the best way to do this, keep the body moving and introduce another challenge is to combine yoga and stretching.

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