Free Fitness Advice- Flexibility Training

Flexibility is one of the most neglected areas in an exercise program, and is the last of the three essentials to proper fitness training. The general goal of stretching is to increase or maintain the range of motion around a particular joint.  Maintaining or increasing this range of motion can have many benefits to your activities of daily living as well as potentially decreasing or eliminating certain chronic tight areas that can increase the risk of developing orthopedic issues.  Hello- lower back pain; this is usually caused by hamstring, lower back and hip flexor tightness. 

 

Additionally, stretching and flexibility training assists in cooling down the body after a heavy workout and has shown to be a fabulous technique for stress relief.  Yoga anyone?  Current research supports the best time to stretch your muscles is after your workouts when you no longer need to produce large forces within the joints or after a 5-10 minute warm up.  The bottom line is the muscles need to be warm to stretch.  Cold muscle is like a piece of taffy from the freezer, loosen it up so the joints are supple, have lubrication and are ready for elongation and mild tension.  Use our guidelines below to set up your flexibility training and don’t forget to put it into your weekly workout program.

 

• Mode- static (non-moving) stretches, passive and active stretches
• Frequency- 2-3 days per week minimum, 5-7 optimal especially for tighter areas
• Intensity- stretch to tightness at the end of range of motion but not pain; mild discomfort
• Time- hold stretches 15-30 seconds
• Repetitions- 2-4 per stretch per side
• Stretch all major muscle groups as well as those involved in your exercise routine and your tighter areas.  Most common: hamstrings, hip flexors, inner/outer thigh, calves, lateral  trunk, upper back, lateral neck, anterior chest and shoulder area

I will be posting my fab 5 stretches next week.  The 5 moves are an easy way to stretch all the tight areas in your body in a minimal amount of time, and meet all the guidelines for flexibility training.

-Amy