While you may be conditioned to think that you need to stretch before you exercise, a better way to go about it is to do a warm up first and then do the stretches. This increases blood flow to your muscles and can help you prevent injury and get more out of your stretching. When possible, walk, jog or cycle for five to 10 minutes, or until you're starting to breathe heavier and you've broken a light sweat. And speaking of sweating -- engage in gentle, steady exercise on a regular basis. Regular exercise can actually help alleviate pain and build up the muscle around your painful joints, advises MayoClinic.com. The Centers for Disease Control recommend all adults to do about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week, which is 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Ask your doctor if this is right for you.
A few key exercises will help stretch the shoulders and arms. As with any stretch, start out slowly and don't try to push beyond a comfortable range of motion. For all the exercises mentioned here, hold the pose for a few seconds, release, and then do it again.
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and then lace your fingers together. Press your arms out from your chest and then move them upward above your head, facing your palms to the ceiling. Work to press your hands slightly back. Then separate your arms, keeping them above your head, and grab one elbow with the opposite hand, working to pull that elbow behind your head. Also try straightening your arm and pressing it across the front of your body toward your chest with the opposite hand.
Basic head circles are one place to start stretching the neck. Rotate your head slowly clockwise and then counter-clockwise. Then try the neck shrug, pulling your shoulders up near your ears and dropping them back down. Next, create a "W" with your hands and elbows. Your palms should be facing outward at shoulder-height and your elbows should be tucked near your sides. Press your shoulder blades together and hold for a few seconds. Also try the doorway stretch, in which you place your hands at shoulder height in a door frame and lean forward.
For your legs, try a set of gentle hip circles first. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, place your hands on your hips and rotate your hips in one direction and then the other. Then move to a wall that you can use for support. Raise one leg forward slightly and do clockwise and counter-clockwise circles with your foot, gently stretching one ankle and then the other. Then to stretch the quadriceps in your thighs, grab the toe of one foot and pull it behind you toward your buttocks. Do not pull so hard as to cause pain in your knee. Repeat on the other leg. Finish with a calf stretch, which can also benefit the ankle, by standing one foot away from the wall and stepping forward with one foot. Place your forearms on the wall and lean forward, which should cause a stretch at the back of the lower leg.
