Stretching
Most people don’t stretch they way the should after exercising or, even worst, they don’t even stretch at all. While most people doesn’t even pay attention to it, stretching is really important as it increases flexibility and reduces the risk of injury. Stretching helps the muscles loosen and prepare for the movements that you will be doing during the routine and it will reduce the risk of tearing and injury. Stretching before and after the training rutine helps reduce the stiffness that occurs during exercise, and allows the muscles to expand and relax any over tense parts of the body. While being more flexible you can peform certain movements that are stressful for the muscles and tendonds with more ease.
Good stretching exercise examples
Everyone knows a couple of stretching exercises, at least the ones you learn at gym class at school, but there are stretching exercises that are much more effective than others. The only problem is that the more effective, the more it will hurt. The next exercises are really tough unless you like pain:
-One exercise I learned when I was doing chinese Kempo helped me gain enough flexibility to reach a front split in about three months by doing it 3 times a week. To do it you need 2 people, one lays with his back against the wall while the other raises his leg slowly until it hurts with the heel of the leg that is on the floor always touching the wall. You can do this exercise with the back against the wall or with the side of your body against the wall, as if you were doing a russian split standing up.
-There is another exercise I like that i learned doing gymnastics. For it you will need 3 people. One lays on the floor face up while another holds his leg still on the ground and the other pushes the other leg, trying to get it as near to the chest of the one lying on the floor as possible.
Do it until it hurts
Most people tend to half-ass their stretching exercises. The moment it starts hurting they stop, when what you should be doing is forcing themselves through the pain until you finish the exercise. This may be difficult because no one likes pain but after finishing your stretching routine you will feel much lighter and ready to exercise. A good stretching routine should last at least 20 minutes of continuous stretching and include several different exercises.
Final comments
People don’t pay attention to stretching as they should but it is an extremely important part of any training program, it will help you reduce the risk of muscle injury and it will aid to muscle recovery, besides, after finishing stretching you will feel lighter and better prepared for any movement you will be doing during your workout.
for more information on this subject check the rest of my articles or contact me at igna_torres92@hotmail.com
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