Stretching
But the best time to stretch is actually after exercise. When the muscles are warm, you can stretch more easily, helping with your flexibility without the threat of injury that’s present when stretching cold muscles.
Stretching will help to lengthen those muscles one last time and will help to rid them of those waste products we talked about earlier. Add some deep breathing exercises while you stretch to help oxygenate the muscles so you can avoid stiffness or soreness.
Make sure to stretch all the muscles you’ve used during play, which in volleyball is just about every muscle in the body. Be sure to spend a good several minutes on the quads, hamstrings, calf, shoulder and stomach muscles. Ideally you should stretch each muscle for 20-30 seconds two or three times each.
Ten minutes of stretching after you play will help you to recover more quickly and to avoid injury. So get in the habit of adding stretching to your routine every time.
Read more news from our Stretching section.
Check out our Physiotheraphy section, every Monday a new story! Tomorrow read about Kinesiotaping for rotator cuff injuries and shoulder pain
