Flexibility Exercises

More Flexibility Guidelines:
Use it to finish Off: After all kinds of workouts, be it weight training, running or sports, it is important to stretch all those muscle groups that have been used. Give at least five minutes to each muscle group that has been worked out. It helps in many ways. Since the muscles are already warmed up, they stretch better and add to your flexibility. Intense exercise invariably results in fatigue in the body. This fatigue is caused by the accumulation of lactic acid – a by-product of anaerobic activity in the muscle tissues. Stretching and flexibility exercises reduce this fatigue to a large extent by helping flush out this lactic acid. Result – you are much less likely to avoid the next workout.

Use it as a positive substitute: At times it happens that in the middle of a workout, you find that your heart is just not into it. At these times rather than forcing yourself to finish, spend the time on some slow stretching and flexibility exercises. Work on your lower back, your hamstrings and your shoulders. Over time, the time spent on flexibility could just be a more meaningful investment.

Stretch whenever you can: Apart from improving your flexibility a wee bit each time, a good stretch gets the blood flowing to each cell of the body and invigorates and relaxes the muscles both at the same time. You can stretch your body in innumerable ways, depending on the situation – when you are sitting in the office when walking, while waiting at the traffic lights, when reading a book, when at the bus stop, when yawning or even when just lazing around. There are different ways you can stretch or flex yourself – depending on the kind of passive posture you are in. It can be a stretch for your shoulders, for your lower back, for your, your hamstrings or just a plain old huge yawming stretch. To take the most out of any stretch, make sure you pull out all the stops. Do not be self-conscious, or think of what people around are going to think of you. Just bend, extend or twist all the way.

Learn to relax: It does wonders to a person’s state of well-being. When during a stretch or a yoga posture, instead of forcing yourself into a stretch, let your muscles and body relax. You will find that it becomes much easier to perform the stretch or the posture. Invariably a yoga session ends with the savasana or the ‘dead man’s posture’. It is done to completely relax the body and mind and thus recharge both substantially.

Remember, that in the long run, how young you are will be dictated by how flexible your body remains.