Congrats on crushing the course. Mentally and spiritually, you feel great – there’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of crossing the finish line with your team. Physically on the other hand, you might be feeling, uh, less than your best. You just pushed yourself through a slew of grueling obstacles, used and abused muscles you’ve been training, and (at the moment) are probably discovering a few you never even knew you had.
Don’t stress though, post-event soreness is expected (unless you are a robot) and easy to tackle. Check out these 5 simple recovery stretches that’ll have you feelin’ loose, limber, and ready to tackle your next event in no time. For each of the stretches below, you can hold them for 3 sets of 30 seconds, or break them up into 10 second holds.
UPPER BODY
Shoulder Stretch
Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms relaxed at your sides and palms facing each other. Keeping your left arm straight, raise it directly in front of you to chest height (like you’re about to give someone a thumbs up). Keeping the arm straight, bring it across your body and use your right hand, apply some pressure right above your elbow. Repeat on other side.
Overhead Lat Stretch
Stand straight with feet shoulder-width apart, arms relaxed at your sides, palms facing each other. Raise your right arm overhead. Using your left hand, grasp the wrist, or elbow and gently pull towards your left shoulder. This will help stretch the length of your lats. If you do not feel a deep enough stretch standing straight, you can bend towards your left side (or the arm doing the bending). Repeat on other side.
LOWER BODY
Standing Quad Stretch
Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your right leg so that your heel is being brought towards your butt and grasp your foot with your right hand. With your core engaged, press your foot into your hand to feel a stretch along your quads. Repeat on other side.
Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
While kneeling on your right knee, plant your left foot in front of you and bent at 90 degrees. Make sure that your left knee and ankle are aligned, with your back upright and core engaged. Now, gently lean forward so that you feel the stretch in your right hip flexor and quad. To increase the stretch, actively squeeze your glutes. Repeat on other side.
Calf Stretch
Stand with both feet shoulder-width apart in front of a wall. Place both hands on the wall at about chest level. Place the ball of your right foot on the wall and gently push forward until you feel a stretch along your right calf. Repeat on other side.
Ahhhh, don’t you feel better? Maybe not yet, but you’re on your road to recovery. You can do these stretches everyday, whether you’re crushing courses, or not.
Wanna keep going? Check out the 2021 challenges and keep the momentum up.
