When is the Best Time to Stretch?

When is the Best Time to Stretch?

please appreciate this ridiculous graphic interpretation of scheduling flexibility training

If you’re interested in optimizing your flexibility training, you might be trying to find the “best” time to stretch to see the most results. What if you feel stiff every morning when you wake up? Or exhausted after a long work day and struggle to find the motivation? Or work non-traditional hours? When IS the best time?

There are certainly PROS and CONS to different times of day and how they may fit into your life schedule, but ultimately, the best time to stretch is whenever you’re more likely to consistently stick with it. Just like exercising, flexibility training is a habit that needs to be built - so whenever you can find time that works for your life schedule to fit it in, the better!

That being said, here are some of the positives and negatives I’ve felt or heard from students regarding the various time-of-day options:

Early Birds Catch the Flexy Worm

This is a popular option because for busy folks, it’s often the easiest to fit into their schedule even if it means waking up earlier.

PROS:

• Nice way to start the day! Get your body limber and ready to move for the day to come

• Often easiest to fit into a schedule (before kids wake up, before work day starts, before “life” happens and gets in the way)

CONS:

• Bodies generally feel “tighter” in the morning, even with a proper warm up, so stretching may not feel as “satisfying”

• Not everyone is jazzed about waking up earlier…

Recommendations to help it work for you:

• Wear (or at least lay out) your workout clothes the night before - I have done this and it does help “guilt” me into committing to my morning workout!

• Don’t let your muscles feeling “tighter” hold you back. Yes, we are often less flexible in the morning because we’ve been lying in bed all night, but you can still absolutely make progress even if it feels harder than stretching in the afternoon/evening

• You should always warm up before any serious flexibility training, but even moreso first thing in the morning because you haven’t had a full day of gentle movement to get your muscles working yet

Taking a Limber Lunch Break

If you have a flexible enough work schedule (work from home, work non-traditional hours, or can leave for an hour over your lunch break), this can also be a “non disruptive” way to schedule in your flexibility training.

Not recommended: eating while you stretch

PROS:

• Doesn’t necessarily take “extra” time out of your busy life schedule

• Nice way to break up your work day and get some energy for the afternoon ahead

• Helps “undo” crappy desk posture that can lead to back, neck, and hip pain

CONS:

• Requires ability to leave work temporarily (and change, etc.) if you work in-person, which may not be feasible

• Have to plan ahead (bring clothes to stretch in, be prepared to shower if you plan on doing a lot of strenuous active flexibility work that makes you sweat)

Recommendations to help it work for you:

• Really the biggest recommendation is making sure it’s OK to schedule it in with your day job - this one’s pretty dependent on your work flexibility. But if you can, straight up block it off on your calendar like a meeting - that’s what I used to do!

Night Owls: Stretching in the Evening

Stretching in the evenings after work has always been my favorite, and the easiest for me to make a habit by tacking it on after my after work workout.

PROS:

• Stretching is often more comfortable since your body has had most of the day to slowly warm up (but that doesn’t mean you get to skip an actual cardo warmup!)

• Potentially easier to make a habit if you can link it to something else already in your schedule (ex. stopping by the gym on your way home from work, using stretching as a transition from your day job to your personal time, or stretching before bed as a wind down activity)

CONS:

• May be harder to schedule if you already have busy evenings, especially if you have young kids

• Easier to push off / ignore if you’re already tired from the day

Recommendations to help it work for you:

In case it’s hard to see, I’m brushing my teeth

• Actually going somewhere to stretch (like a gym) made a big difference for me (as opposed to telling myself I’d just stretch at home) - if I could just schlep my butt to the gym, that was enough commitment for me to complete my workout and stretch, even if I was tired

• Take a class! Lots of places (yoga studios, pole studios, circus studios, even rock climbing gyms and other fitness gyms) often offer weeknight flexibility classes which can be more fun (and more informative) than stretching solo

• If you have kids and stretch at home, consider inviting them to exercise or stretch with you (if you have a routine you like to do that can handle some minor interruptions ;) )

• If you’re more into gentle stretching than serious flexibility training, try making it part of your bedtime routine

Sneaking Stretchy “Snack Breaks” Throughout the Day

Don’t have a full 20+ minutes to dedicate to flexibility training? Even small mobility breaks can make a difference in how your body feels! While you probably won’t see the same progress/gains as if you did a proper warm up and true flexibility training session, taking smaller stretch breaks throughout the day is still a healthy habit to foster.

PROS:

• Low commitment!

• The easiest of all to “schedule” since you can take a minute or two whenever you are free to do some light stretching

• Doesn’t require changing clothes or going to a gym, you can stretch wherever you are

• Helps you feel better, especially if you’re breaking up your work day sitting at a desk for 8+ hours at a time

CONS:

• Easy to “forget” to stretch if you don’t have a dedicated time set aside

• Doesn’t lead to the same flexibility gains as a dedicated training session where you properly warm up and condition with active flexibility exercises

Recommendations to help it work for you:

• If you struggle to remember to take stretch breaks, you can literally set an alarm or use a reminder app for your phone or desktop to occasionally ping you at your preferred time interval

• Tie your stretch breaks to another “activity” like whenever you return to your desk after grabbing a snack from the kitchen or going to the restroom - take a quick minute of stretching or mobility work before returning to your work

When do YOU like to stretch?

What time have you found works best for you? What tips do you have for working flexibility training into your schedule? Let everyone know in the comments below!