I'm back!!!

I went back to North Penn Kickboxing yesterday! I think I could have started Monday but I was too busy. Honestly, I just barely submitted the Les Miserables project. But anyway! I had my third Muay Thai lesson. We started off like normal, jump roping and doing exercises in between. What's weird is that I wasn't as tired as I was on my first day. I haven't done much exercising but I felt pretty good. 

Thursdays are sparring days except for beginners. So while the others were sparring, I was relearning the basics. I learned fake- outs and ways to block and dodge. I practiced kicks and punches on the punching bag. Remember when I talked about what was wrong about kicks last blog? Apparently there was much, much more to learn than I thought. But I'm getting there. I was able to successfully perform two roundhouse kicks! And I didn't get injured! :D

My mom suggested that the reason I got injured was because I didn't stretch. So, this week I'm researching the science of stretching. 

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Stretching keeps your muscles flexible. strong and healthy. Without stretching, the muscles shorten and become tight. So when you use them for a physical activity, they are weak and cannot extend all the way it could have. Regularly stretching makes exercise easier and reduces the chances of joint pain, strains and muscle damage. 

Sometimes, it's better to warm up to get the blood flowing and the muscles a little more flexible before stretching. 

Hold each stretch for 30 seconds. feeling tension is normal but if it hurts, stop. You could cause an injury. 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-of-stretching#:~:text=Stretching%20keeps%20the%20muscles%20flexible,to%20extend%20all%20the%20way.

The movement of your joints is dependent on the range of motion (ROM). ROM is limited by the joints and muscles. Stretching increases the length of the muscle. Decreased muscle tension is related to increased muscle length while increased muscular tension is related to decreased muscle length. There are three types of muscle stretching: static, dynamic and pre- contraction. The most common type is static stretching, where a specifc position is held to put tension on a muscle. Dynamic stretching is moving a limb through its full range of motion and repeating several times. Pre contraction stretching involves a contraction of the muscle being stretched. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273886/