bythemethod.com blog

There are many things that children enjoy. Experience tells me that these are the very same things that we all enjoy. Playing games, laughing, hanging around with friends, computer games, just messing about, etc.

Perhaps the secret to helping children into sport is to think about the kinds of things we might enjoy and encouraging them to get involved.

Anyway today I wanted to talk about something that is easy for us all to do and which can make a big difference to our ability to enjoy sport (and life in general).

I’m talking about stretching and mobility.

I suffer with a bad back. It resulted from an old sporting injury and it means that I can’t be as active as I wold like to be. However one thing I have always been able to do and which I have found is great for a bad back is stretching your muscles.

This is the part of yoga that people go to yoga classes for. If you are looking for a way to get your muscles moving without all the mumbo-jhumbo that goes with yoga philosophy then get yourself in to stretching.

There are plenty of web sites on the Internet that offer good stretching advice and if you follow some of their ideas you will soon find that your muscles are loosening up and you get less aches and pains.

This stretching will help you get ready for sport. I think one of the reasons so many of us don’t like sport is that it is hard work and makes you hurt afterwards. If your muscles are ready for it then the pain is less and recovery is much quicker.

How does this relate to children?

Well I think children enjoy stretching and if you are having trouble getting them to do anything then this is a good start. There is no getting sweaty or out of breath (of course these are good things really but if you don’t do sport at the moment then you need to start somewhere) and you can do them in your own home without anyone else watching. If you do it together in the spirit of fun it can even be really good fun and cause a fair bit of hilarity.

You will also find that your children are probably better at it than you are and children always like stuff that they can do better than adults.

So pick a time of day you are going to do this together (I recommend before bed – get the children in their pyjamas and they will be in loose clothing all ready for stretching) and commit to it for a given number of days (I suggest starting with 1 week).

Then get yourself a good book on stretching and take care to read any warnings.

Then get started.

My warning!!

Stretching should not hurt and whilst it is hard to do some serious damage stretching it is possible. Listen to your body and only go as far as your body says you can.

Never make stretching a competition. This will make people overdo the stretch and ignore the pain. In this case no pain means gain (not no pain no gain).

Always follow instructions carefully.

If you never exercise and/or are very overweight you should seek the advice of your doctor before undertaking any exercise programme.

Have fun!