Looking for a new event to challenge yourself in 2017?

“Hi Everyone! As some of you may know I am proudly competing in the 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Placid event next September as part of the MMRF Team for Cures! This will be my third event with them after competing in 2 Full IRONMAN's in Lake Placid (this year and last year) in honour of my father who passed away from blood cancer in 1999. This organization has done some of the most ground-breaking work in oncology in the last 20 years that has led to 10 new cancer fighting drugs coming to market for patients in need. They’ve tripled the life expectancy of patients with this blood cancer and they won’t stop until there’s a cure! They also happen to run one of the Top 5 Endurance Events Programs – offering tons of logistical, training, and race week support for you AND your family. Right now anyone who signs up through me gets $100 off the already reduced race entry fee of $150 – so you can pay ONLY $50 and race in IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Placid. Just use code REFERREDTOCURE when you sign up. I hope you join me.  www.themmrf.org/2017IMLP PS! The top highest fundraiser win a 2018 70.3 World Champion BIB!!” Stay active and anything is possible! Donna

Stretch? I don't have time to stretch.

Hello my fellow fitness enthusiasts.  I know it may seem like a long time since I've written a blog. But you can also follow me on my Facebook Page called Positively Active, on Twitter as Fitnesscrazed and on Instagram as dfosterlarocque. However, for all you wonderful blog readers, I am making it my mission to blog every month on a variety of health and fitness topics.


This month's topic is stretching, which next to breathing and nutrition, is the third most important aspect of training. Here is a great article by Claudia Wood, a freelance writer and health enthusiasts, on the many benefits of stretching.

Stretching is one thing that many people neglect to do everyday and don’t place much importance on, but getting a good stretch is really great for your body. Whether you’re actually exercising, or just going about your day to day activities, you should always make a small amount of time to stretch out your muscles.

Stretching in general has many benefits – not necessarily directly related to exercise, but of course there are quite a few upsides to stretching before and/or after your workout.

Let’s look at the benefits of stretching in relation to every day life and exercise, to help us understand why we need to stretch and why a flexibility workout like yoga is so good for us.

Everyday benefits of stretching:

1. It wakes you up

Stretching has been proven to make you feel more awake, which is especially helpful when you’re at work and it hits 3 o’clock. Stretching helps to move blood that has pooled in your muscles and makes you feel tired and sluggish. So instead of pulling that chocolate bar from your drawer to wake you up in the afternoon, have a stretch to feel more energised and to avoid those unwanted kilos.

2. It’s a stress buster

When you get stressed your muscles contract and become tense, which can impact your body in a negative way. By stretching out your muscles, it can help to relax those that become balled with stress and endorphins are released which help to improve your mood and also help you sleep better.

3. It gets rid of back pain

Stretching is a great way to strengthen muscles and help them to become more flexible. Sitting at your desk all day can affect your posture, which can cause your lower back to become sore. Stretching those muscles that affect your posture, like your hip flexors and your back, can strengthen these muscles and get rid of soreness.

Exercise related benefits of stretching:

1. Flexibility

One of the main reasons that people stretch is to increase their flexibility. Having good flexibility can help you improve the way you do exercises and can also reduce the risk of injury if your muscles are stretched nicely. Flexibility allows you to exercise more easily and is especially important to maintain as your age increases.

2. It increases circulation

Stretching increases the blood flow and supply of nutrients to the muscles. This means that stretching helps to reduce muscle soreness after working out, which means that you won’t have to hold onto the wall when trying to sit on the toilet after leg day.

3. You can get more out of your workout

When you stretch your muscles and tendons become looser and easier to work with, which as a result reduces muscle fatigue. This means that you’ll be able to get a longer, better workout than if you didn’t stretch, which essentially means you can burn more kilojoules.

So get stretching, whether it’s in front of the television after work or while you’re in the gym. There are so many benefits to stretching that will have you feeling good and get your muscles in better condition.

Wow! Who would have thought that by taking a few minutes, or longer, to stretch before or after exercising, or stretching without training, would be so beneficial. I hope that one of the reasons listed above will help inspire and motivate you to incorporate stretching into your daily routine. Your body and mind will be grateful.

Stay active and anything is possible!
Donna