Stretching, or body flexibility, is one of the most important indicators of body health.
This characteristic is on the same level as strength and endurance, and it cannot be said that it is less important.
A flexible body includes good ductility not only in tissue but also in bones and joints.
Sports such as dancing or gymnastics are not possible without good body flexibility.
However, any sport either begins or ends with stretching exercises. Therefore, they can be called universal with confidence - it doesn’t matter what kind of sport you do.
With a flexible body, you can succeed much faster.
Stretching for beginners at home: benefit
Why is body stretching necessary? In our body, it is capable of performing several functions that are different from each other at once.
• Firstly, stretching exercises will help preserve, and even strengthen the health of ligaments, muscles and joints. They will be more elastic, therefore, less susceptible to various sprains and other injuries.
• A preliminary and completing workout complex of stretching exercises will not only avoid the appearance of various injuries, but also improve blood flow in the body. This is of particular importance after training - when the muscles are filled with lactic acid and other decay products, stretching helps to quickly remove them into the lymphatic stream, and subsequently from the body.
• Stretching will help get rid of muscle tension and hypertonicity.
• As mentioned earlier, stretching helps improve blood flow inside the body. This has another very impressive advantage. Due to the more efficient work of blood vessels, blood flows faster and more efficiently through the body. This will help to maintain heart health, and supply all muscles and organs with a large amount of blood, oxygen and nutrients.
• Regular practice of doing stretching exercises will make your body more slim, fit and attractive. They will help women achieve an ideal figure, while men will have a better visible muscular relief.
• Flexibility is very important for maintaining body mobility. If you do not develop this parameter, then it will deteriorate. It is so established in nature. And over time, you will find that it will be difficult for you not only to stand on the bridge, but simply raise your leg to step over the fence. Therefore, for such elementary actions, stretching will be very useful.
Body flexibility
The flexibility of the body is a certain resource that is lost with age. Children have much more flexible joints and tendons, and with age they begin to coarsen. It becomes difficult to perform some movements, while others are almost impossible.
Flexibility is an innate quality. For some, it is better developed, for others worse. But one thing remains unchanged - if this skill is not regularly trained, then it begins to be "forgotten" by our body. Of course, genetics is important in this matter, but not like regular training.
The load on the muscles gives her a signal, and she becomes stiff and not elastic. Stretching, on the contrary, allows her to relax and stretch. During stretching, the brain consciously gives a signal that the muscle is already sufficiently stretched, and the load needs to stop. This is expressed in burning and pulling feelings. However, allowing the muscle to spend some time in this position, its protection is reduced, which allows it to stretch a little more. It is on this principle that training on the development of flexibility is built.
The flexibility level is affected by several more factors:
1. Time of day. Oddly enough, but how you can stretch out depends on the time of day. After sleep, the muscles are in some “suspended animation” and will not allow you to do a strong stretch. In the evening, on the contrary, the ability to stretch the muscles is maximum.
2. Temperature. Here, physics already comes into play. As you know, the higher the temperature of a substance, the greater the distance between its molecules. Accordingly, the higher the temperature in your body, the better your stretch will be.
3. Level of physical activity. If you did nothing during the day, then your muscles will not be in much better shape than after sleep. Therefore, before stretching, be sure to do a little workout.
Stretching for beginners at home: types
There are several types of stretch marks that differ from each other in the way they are performed.
• Passive. This type of stretch marks is suitable for beginners to perform at home. Only for him you will need a partner. The bottom line is that your partner will gradually take your body parts to the sides, achieving maximum stretching of a particular part of the body. All you need to do is orient the partner according to your feelings, as well as patience and willpower to withstand this.
• Dynamic. This type is designed for more experienced athletes. Stretching is performed directly during training. There are many exercises that allow you to simultaneously load and stretch the muscle.
• Static. This species is characterized by leisurely and measured execution. Muscle stretching occurs due to their static tension. The extreme position of the stretch is held for some time, then changes.
Some rules when doing stretching
Like any other exercise, stretching can be hazardous to health. But of course this will only be so if you make it too fanatical, or wrong. And if you do not want to get hurt, we strongly recommend that you follow these rules!
• First, stretching should be preceded by a general warm-up. It is not necessary to run a cross - it takes about 5 minutes to perform simple exercises, which you remember from physical education lessons. You need to thoroughly warm up the muscles before stretching them, otherwise you can harm yourself.
• Stretch only the muscle group that has previously been warmed up.
• Any stretching exercise should not be given away by pain. Only muscle tension and no pain.
• Exercise should not be such that your body parts assume unnatural positions for them. That is, you do not need to try to bend your leg so that the knee begins to look back.
• Each muscle should stretch for approximately 30-60 seconds. This will allow to work it out most fully, and give an incentive to increase the stretch.
• When performing exercises, you need to breathe deeply and evenly, which will provide the necessary flow of oxygen to the muscles.
• A set of exercises should be performed daily.
Stretching for beginners at home: exercises
Below, for you will be given stretching exercises for beginners at home. With their help, you can improve the general condition of your body, and achieve a more flexible body.
Exercise number 1 - bending the knees to the chest. This exercise will allow you to stretch and relax your lower back. To do this, lie on your back and pull your knees to your chest. With your hands, try to press even harder to the chest so that a stretch is felt in the back.
Exercise number 2 - twisted pose. Sitting position, one leg is straight, the other is thrown from above through the first. After that, start to turn in the direction that is opposite to the thrown foot. With the help of this exercise, the lower back is perfectly relaxed.
Exercise number 3 - "seal". Lie on your stomach and slightly raise your upper body on your hands. Without lifting your legs from the floor, try to bend back as much as possible. Another good exercise for the lower back.
Exercise number 4 - stretching the shoulder girdle. Sit on the floor, legs bent at the knees. Place your hands on the floor, placing them just behind your hips. Fingers should look back. Slowly rearrange your arms until you feel sufficient stretching in the area of the shoulder joints.
Exercise number 5 - stretching hands. Stand on all fours so that your palms and fingers look towards your knees. In this position, slowly lean back until you feel an acceptable tension on your wrists.
Exercise number 6 - stretching the wrists. This is a standing exercise. Put your hands down. Then, take one palm with the other, and slightly pull it down. Then change hands.
Exercise number 7 - stretching the shoulder joints. Raise your hands up, and take the left hand with the palm of your right hand. After that, pull the left arm so that it rests on the head in a bent elbow joint. Then change hands.
Exercise number 8 - stretching the pectoral muscles. Put your hands behind your back, and take the other with the palm of one hand. After that, pull your arms back, while at the same time protruding the chest as much as possible.
Exercise number 9 - stretching the neck. Tilt your neck alternately to each side to stretch. A slight burden is allowed, in the form of pressure on the neck with hands.
Exercise number 10 - complex stretching. From a standing position, lean forward and wrap your arms around your calves so that you do not bend at the knees. Standing in this position, you can feel the simultaneous tension in the hips, back and buttocks.
Twine Stretch
One of the best indicators of a person’s good flexibility is twine. This position is not given to everyone, but, of course, everyone wants to be able to do this. And this is by no means impossible, you just need to regularly perform the following exercises.
Exercise number 1 - leaning forward. Position - sitting, legs as wide apart as possible. From this position, lean forward, trying to touch the chest of the floor.
Exercise number 2 - stretching in the groin. Spread your legs as wide as possible. Bend your arms at your elbows and place on the floor. The essence of this exercise is to sit as low as possible, until a painful sensation appears.
Exercise number 3 - lunges. Lunge deeply with one foot forward, bending it at the knee. Squat should be as deep as possible to feel tension in the groin muscles.
Exercise number 4 - squat plie. Legs are shoulder-width apart, knees slightly apart in opposite directions. From this position, squat as deep as possible to feel muscle tension.
Exercise number 5 - sitting on the floor. Spread your legs in different directions as wide as possible. Hands grab the ankles, and bend as low as possible to the floor.
Stretching for twine is slightly different from the rest of the exercises. If the previous complex was aimed at general strengthening of the body's capabilities, then twine requires a more serious and diligent approach. But, despite the apparent difficulties, just a couple of months, and you can freely brag about your skills to friends.
