Over the course of a year, 50-year-old Jennifer added many useful habits to her life—one every month. She returned to cardio training, began drinking more water, eating less meat and stopped drinking alcohol. And at some point she realized that she didn’t have enough stretching exercises.
By nature I am flexible and plastic. I can easily bend over and place my palms on the floor, touching the outside of my thighs and knees to the floor while sitting in butterfly pose. Apparently, that’s why I haven’t been particularly concerned about stretching until now.
How to improve your stretching?
Hurdler stretch
- We sit on the floor and stretch our left leg in front of us.
- Bend your right leg at the knee and rest your foot on the inner thigh of your left leg.
- Slowly lean forward towards your left leg, trying to keep your back straight.
- We hold for 30 seconds and change legs.
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Dream
After sleep, the human body is not immediately ready to start working. To do this, it is good to perform a small complex daily aimed at stretching muscle fibers. Morning stretching after sleep energizes and makes you feel good.
During sleep, the muscles contract, after which significant relaxation is required. In order to relieve tension and stiffness of movement in the morning, acquired after and during sleep, it is necessary to do stretching in the morning. Morning stretching after sleep should be done gently and smoothly, without sudden movements. Since the body has not yet adapted to sudden movements, you should be careful not to harm your body.
What is the benefit
Morning stretching is good for more than just your spine. It has a great influence on all muscle groups in the human body. Thanks to morning exercises or stretching, we can get rid of the membrane on the muscles every day. In this regard, health will be strengthened and well-being will improve.
It's not just professional athletes who do stretching. You can often see a fit, slender person with beautiful posture. If you ask him, he probably stretches daily or at least several times a week. The best time for her is the morning hours.
The benefits of stretching are great for the entire human body, especially if you do it in the morning:
- activates metabolic processes;
- removes film on muscles;
- improves flexibility and elasticity of muscle fibers, ligaments and joints;
- normalizes blood circulation;
- relieves tension and stiffness in joints and limbs;
- improves posture;
- improves mood and well-being;
- has a beneficial effect on all processes in the body.
It should be remembered that there are some contraindications for which stretching cannot be performed. There are few of them, but still, before starting classes, you should consult with a specialist.
It is necessary to stretch not only the main muscle groups, but also those that in ordinary life we are not used to using in work.
For example, it is good to stretch the quadriceps, buttocks, calf, piriformis, and iliacus muscles in the morning. In addition, people who suffer from spinal diseases need daily stretching. It will be very useful for those who have pathologies such as scoliosis, osteochondrosis and protrusions. But you should perform gymnastics very carefully, without sudden movements.
Pose "Frog".
Performance:
- Exhale, lower to your knees, feet pointing back.
- Slowly, gently, without jerking, spread your knees to the side as wide as possible.
- Slowly lower your buttocks to the floor, while trying to keep your feet under your buttocks.
- Place your hands on your knees or rest them on a surface. Stay in this position for 3-4 minutes.
- Exit the pose as smoothly as possible. First, gently bring your knees together, and then lift your pelvis from the floor.
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What happens to our body while we sleep
A study was conducted in the USA that showed that during sleep a person forms a kind of film on the surfaces of muscle fibers. This film disappears immediately after sleep and appears again the next day. Moreover, it dissolves most quickly precisely at the moment when a person begins to stretch or stretch. That is, in order to remove the tension from your muscles, you need to stretch them in the morning.
If you do not stretch in the morning, the film will not disappear on its own and a new layer will appear on it. Thus, when the muscles have a multi-layer membrane, they will be much more difficult to stretch.
It is this phenomenon that causes stiffness of movement in people in the morning, discomfort in the muscles and limbs, as well as pain.
5) Stretching the back and abdominal muscles.
Performance:
- Take a deep breath and exhale sharply.
- As you exhale, round your back, pull in your stomach as much as possible and squeeze your buttocks. At the same time, the pelvis should remain straight, the tailbone looks down, the head is lowered.
- Hold this pose for 8-10 seconds, then arch your back at the waist and lift your head up. Pull your pelvis up. Count to 8.
- After this, return to the original position and inhale.
Disadvantages of morning classes
Morning workouts should not be done on an empty stomach.
If training is carried out without breakfast, some experience dizziness and weakness. Therefore, even if losing weight is as important as muscle elasticity, you cannot train hungry. The carbohydrate balance in the blood is responsible for the normal state of the body. Carbohydrates come from a number of foods and vary in their health benefits. An affordable snack without a heaviness in the stomach is a spoonful of honey or sugar in tea, or even better, a banana or a handful of dried fruits.
During the time between sets
When working with weights, it is important that the target muscles are involved in the work at the same time, and the antagonists (muscles that perform opposite anatomical functions) relax. During stretching between approaches, some muscles may relax and will be delayed in engaging in work during the next approach with weight, this can lead to injury . To ensure that the muscles work synchronously and that all muscles are equally ready for the load, it is better not to stretch between approaches.
The second problem is that stretching makes you weaker for a while . It reduces the effect of elastic deformation of connective tissue. What does it mean? When we perform an exercise with weights, it occurs not only due to muscle contraction, but also due to the help of the connective tissue that surrounds the muscles - fascia, ligaments, etc. It is an elastic fabric that can stretch and compress like a spring. This is how the body saves a little energy: muscle contraction requires energy, but connective tissue contraction does not, it works like a spring and provides energy purely mechanically.
So you can’t stretch the muscle being trained between approaches, especially if the weights are heavy.
When is the best time to stretch?
Morning exercises are best combined with stretching of the whole body. In this case, the complex will be most effective. Since each muscle is connected to its neighbors, when one of them is blocked, the others also suffer. In this case, it will be much more difficult to stretch them. During morning stretching, a person may even notice the appearance of stiffness or discomfort.
It should be remembered that discomfort during any kind of stretching is normal. After some time, the pain will begin to subside as the muscles adapt to the load and become more elastic and flexible.
But if a person has contraindications, then pain may indicate a symptom. In this case, you should contact a specialist to clarify the diagnosis and continue or stop performing the exercises.
Before
So, what exactly is stretching? Most people understand stretching as “passive stretching”, i.e. you take a certain position and maintain it with the help of another part of the body, or with the help of improvised means. For example, lifting your leg up and holding it at the top point with the help of your hands, or splits, where the floor itself plays the role of a “handy tool”, which helps you stay in a stretched position. With such a stretch, whatever one may say, the muscles will be in both static and eccentric tension.
Stretching is actually a complex of muscle stretching. It maintains body position by maintaining muscle tone. It also prevents damage by allowing the muscle to respond to sudden or unexpected increases in length.
Your muscles are protected by this mechanism . Every time you overstretch muscle tissue (by jerking or stretching too far), the nervous system sends a reflex command to the muscles to contract, which is the body's way of protecting the muscles from injury.
As a result, stretching too much results in even more tightness in the very muscles you are trying to stretch! (The same involuntary muscle reaction occurs when you carelessly grab something hot: before you have time to realize what has happened, you are already withdrawing your hand from the hot object). Excessive stretching or jerking during exercise tightens the muscles and triggers the stretch reflex . For this reason, microscopic tears form in the muscle fibers, which cause pain and physical injury. The latter, in turn, lead to the formation of scar tissue in the muscles and a gradual decrease in their elasticity. The muscles become stiff and painful.
Roughly speaking, the deep tendon complex helps the body resist your efforts during stretching. Of course, the body does not want to pull the muscles like chewing gum, and it actively puts a spoke in your wheels. But just like in the situation with fat , it simply takes care of you, trying to prevent possible injuries and sprains.
Remember, pain will not lead to good . Of course, in modern society with its motto “Pull yourself together, you wimp!” It is customary to remain silent about this, and from our school days we remember the rule “there is no result without pain.” We were taught to perceive pain as a prerequisite for physical development and explained that “the stronger the pain, the faster you will achieve results.” Pay more attention to your body and remember that pain is always a warning that something is going wrong.
Returning to our topic of stretching before training. Think about it, why do you need to stretch “cold” muscles that haven’t worked yet ? Static stretching in the cold is the most dangerous option, because the muscles are simply not as ready as possible for such a load, and besides, static stretching before training reduces muscle strength by 7-10% . Many people believe that stretching before exercise can prevent injury, but no one thinks that on the contrary, it can cause it, because... “cold” muscles may not be ready for such a load.
Dynamic stretching (read below what it is) increases muscle temperature and performs this function better than static stretching.
It is much more logical to pay attention to joint gymnastics, because during training we work many joints.
Almost all relatively recent studies show mixed and sometimes negative effects of stretching as a warm-up. The conclusions are as follows:
— To warm up the muscles, it is best to use dynamic exercises , because... Raising the temperature in the muscles by passive stretching is somewhat harmful, because it interrupts the normal blood supply to the tissues, thereby, on the contrary, causing the opposite effect to the desired one. There is no need to try to stretch the muscles as much as possible so as not to block blood flow.
— Static stretching can only be effective in disciplines using amplitudes of joint movements, such as gymnastics, skating, dancing, etc.
- Stretching after training is beneficial - it returns the muscles to their resting length. But in no case do they serve the purpose of developing flexibility .
— Despite the fact that light cardio is a more effective way to recover after a workout, reducing muscle pain after a sprain also causes an improvement in well-being , thereby improving recovery. Therefore, using stretching for recovery is a matter of personal feeling.
— Of course, if dynamic stretching occurs at the beginning of the workout, but is performed after cardio and joint exercises ( “Warm-up and cool-down. Stretching after training” ) and lasts about 3-5 minutes, then nothing bad will happen! After all, the muscles are already preheated, which means the risk of injury is reduced to zero. Of course, provided that the stretching is minimal.
Dynamic
Dynamic stretches are practical exercises that simulate your workout. Static stretching (performed after training) is carried out without movement using a gentle stretching of the muscles. Dynamic stretching is a combination of stretching and movement, it involves exercise and slowly increasing the range and speed of movement to stretch the muscles. Dynamic movements aim to use the muscles' full range of motion without exceeding the normal anatomical limit.
Imagine, instead of standing in one position for 10-30 seconds during a static stretch, you move through a certain range of motion under the control of your own muscles and the force of inertia - much more interesting!
6 dynamic muscle stretching exercises:
- Lunge with twist
1. Place your feet shoulder-width apart. 2. Step forward with your left foot into a lunge position. 3. Turn your body to the left. Then extend your arms to the left side. (Move your hands to the left of the navel). 4. Maintain slow, controlled movements throughout the exercise. 5. Slowly move your hands to the center and step forward with the opposite leg and turn to the other side.
- Side lunge
Very carefully, if you feel any discomfort, don’t do it!
1. Start with your knees and hips slightly bent, your feet apart, and your head and chest lifted. 2. Staying low, take a slow lateral step to the right. Keep your toes pointed forward and stay low. Straighten your left leg, driving your weight to the right, bending your knee and lowering your hip into a side lunge. 3. As you lower, touch your left hand to your right toes or ankle. Maintain an even posture throughout your spine, supporting your head and chest. 4. Pause briefly in this position, and then continue to move towards your working leg to return to a standing position, moving into a lunge on the opposite side.
- Swing your arms
1. Stand with your arms straight out to your sides. Your arms should be parallel to the floor and perpendicular (90 degree angle) to your torso. This will be your starting position. 2. Slowly begin making circles about 30 cm in diameter with each outstretched arm. Breathe normally as you perform the movement. 3. Continue the circular motion of your outstretched arms for about ten seconds. Then stop and start moving your arms in the opposite direction.
- Thigh muscle stretch
1. Begin in a position of twisting your back with your toes straight to the ground. Place your hands in front of you and close them as shown in the photo. 2. Place one knee forward so that your foot is completely flat on the ground and your leg is under your hands.
- Swing your legs
1. Extend your right arm straight out in front of you, parallel to the ground. The palm should be facing the ground. 2. Place your weight on your left foot, and push your right foot off the ground so that it touches the palm of your right hand. 3. Repeat, alternating legs. This may be interesting: The benefits of self-discipline. Profit from sequence
- Jumping with squats
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. 2. Start with a normal squat, then engage your entire body and take a sharp jump. 3. When you land, lower your body back into the squat position to complete one rep. Land as quietly as possible, this requires control. 4. Do two or three sets of 10 reps.
Our spine
Our spine is exposed to a huge amount of stress every day. Moreover, a person is not always able to calculate them so as not to harm him. Therefore, with sudden movements, tilting the body, we can stretch our spine or imperceptibly damage it.
When a person’s back is sufficiently trained, the spine will be healthier, since it is our muscles that hold the spine in place like a corset. If a person’s back muscles are weak, then the spine will suffer, and various diseases such as osteochondrosis, stoop and others may appear.
