Fitness Training
10 Important Things You Should Know About Stretching
Before you start on fitness
training, you must have some warm-up or stretching exercises
to prevent accidents or to boost your performance during the
training. There are also some precautionary measures and tips
to serve as guidelines when doing fitness exercises.
1. Flexibility can be improved by doing stretching before
and after workout, as well as to avoid injuries. All of us
know that stretching before workout prevents injuries during
the exercises, but not many people understand that stretching
after workout, when muscles are still warm, can increase flexibility.
2. Then, you can hold your stretching position for more than
60 seconds to increase flexibility. While holding your position
for 20 seconds is enough for warm ups, holding each position
for at least 60 seconds will develop the body's flexibility.
3. When you are in a stretching position, you should not
return to the relaxed position immediately and do it repeatedly.
This is more appropriately termed as bouncing while in a position.
When you are stretching, you need to hold that position for
several seconds, and then slowly relax. This is the exercise
that you may do repeatedly. Bouncing or forcing yourself into
a position during stretching can strain or damage some joints
or muscles.
4. You should always start from slow to hard exercise, never
rush into the hardest exercise or position.
5. You need to make sure that you have stretched or warmed
up all muscle groups. Some people tend to neglect the neck
when working out of stretching even though they have strong
bodies. Stretching the neck muscles can be as simple as placing
the palm of one's hand against the front of the head and pushing
it. Then, do the same to the sides and the back of the head.
6. Make it a habit to stretch regularly to continually increase
your range of movements and your level of flexibility and
strength.
7. Workout only according to your strength and endurance.
Never force yourself to do exercises outside your capability.
Increase your limits slowly. Listen to your body. There are
days when your body may be too tired that you may have to
consider reducing your range of motion.
8. Learn to rest. Take a break in between sets and stations
so that your body has enough time to recover its energy. Also,
it is recommended that you don't work the same muscle groups
consecutively for two days. Your muscles will grow and recover
during the period when you rest and not when you are working
out.
9. Aerobic exercises can help to strengthen your heart. Aerobic
exercises are those physical activities that much oxygen for
fuel. This exercise includes cardiovascular exercises such
as skipping rope, running or swimming.
10. If you love music, it might be a good way to help you
when you want to train for longer periods or to increase your
intensity. You can bring along MP3 players, CD players to
perk you up. But, keep your headset on so you wouldn't disturb
people who don't prefer music while exercising.
Apart from preventing injuries and increasing one's limit,
it is also said that stretching is good for a tired body and
also for a stressed mind and spirit.
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