Trouble Staying Warm During Stretch

Isis Kane started this discussion · 2/8/2014

I've been having a lot of trouble staying warm during my stretch sessions. It used to be a lot easier for me, I think because my landlord would crank up the heat and my room would be very hot. Although my room is still warm or at least room temp, most of the time I feel like my body cools down after 20 min of stretching, or even before then. I usually take a very hot shower before I stretch, put on leg warmers, yoga pants, and a tank top-and I still end up cooling down by the time I get to the full splits part of my stretch. Does anyone have tips on how to stay hot during stretch? I've been considering using aerobic exercise in between every few stretches. Thanks!

6 replies

Lina Spiralyne · 2/9/2014
Instead of aerobics, maybe try high leg kicks in between some of the exercises. It will both warm you up and give you a stretch at the same time. To the front, side and back with straight legs, quickly.
poledanceromance · 2/9/2014
I do some ballet barre style exercises for this purpose. I have the same issue. I'm not a trained ballet dancer of any sort, but it's easy to look up on YouTube the basic form for keeping your hips tucked under you and doing LITTLE, controlled front, side, and back kicks. Those, plus a few high knees/ in place jogs, a few squats and a few calf raises altogether take less than 5 minutes. You can look up the different leg exercises (I believe all the ones I mentioned are in the conditioning section here) and put together a little leg warmup just a couple minutes long that you can throw into your stretch session if you feel yourself getting cold. Also, this time of year all the space heaters are going on sale. A very small one is enough to keep a regular sized room quite toasty for stretching and pole without drying the room out as much as forced air heat does. You could probably pick one up for about $20 that you could turn on before you get in your pre-stretch hot shower and by the time you get out, you should have a nice warm space to stretch in. (Insert obvious warning about not leaving a space heater unattended for hours lol)
HilaryKate aka LolaSlaytor · 2/9/2014
I'm glad I found this thread!! I have trouble staying warm for stretches too! I can't even seem to get warm enough to properly stretch without AT LEAST 30 minutes of working out. I've tried the hot showers and baths and wearing layers... but I can't seem to get away without exercising first. Even if i do a really good warm up and am sweating and so on, if it hasn't been 30 minutes or more, then within a couple minutes of stretching, my large muscle groups are cold and tight. Makes it really hard to add in additional stretching sessions because it requires so much more time!
Veena · 2/9/2014
I feel your pain cold stretchers. I use to have a nice toasty fireplace to stretch by, but not anymore and I miss it soooo much! The rooms in our place are very large so warming them up enough to hold heat isn't reasonable, I just keep my stretching to about 30 mins tops and wear layers. I do find that when I do mobility training for my back I don't have issues cooling off because its a bit more of an active session for me, so now I try to combine stretching my legs and back all in one and that works well. The down side is I can't stretch as often because it's not split up. PDR and Lina have some good ideas, I like them! I can't wait for SUMMER!!
byrdgrrl · 2/11/2014
I'm finally starting to consider that I just physically cannot push myself as hard during the winter when it's cold as I can when it's warm. I've tried hot showers and layers and heaters, but there's just nothing like it being 90 degrees F out to make me feel my best. While I'm not pushing myself very hard, I do try to make sure that I'm not using the cold as an excuse to sit on my butt. I do matinence stretching and work stuff that I'm fairly comfortable. Also I just see how I'm feeling. Some times, even when it's cold, I can bust out a pretty great workout, other days I can just get through several rounds of Sun Salutations.
Isis Kane · 2/11/2014
I just want to let you all know that I took your advice and did the high kicks-and managed to stay quite warm throughout my stretch routine-at least much warmer than usual. So, thank you :-) One thing I will say is that I get the best results when I stretch after pole. I used to pole until I got tired and while I rested, my body would cool down. I would supplement by waiting until I was well-rested, then take a hot shower and stretch a little bit later in the day. That doesn't work-not in the winter time. Now, I just pole for a session and when I start to feel myself getting tired towards the end, I try to do my stretch routine then. There is a big difference in how my muscles feel when my body warms up internally versus through a hot shower. The only time the hot shower works is when it's HOT in my room to the point where I'm sweating. The conclusion? Stretch works best when you are (reasonably) hot and sweaty. Being "warm" just doesn't do it for me. The best way to do this is through exercise, and if necessary-warm clothing WITH exercise.