STRETCHING EXERCISES
Stretching is an integral component of a person’s physical fitness. With the help of stretching exercises, ligaments and muscles become elastic, thickened and gain strength.
Why stretch?
Stretching is the most important link connecting the passive and active states of your body. It supports muscle flexibility, prepares you for movement and helps you move from inaction to vigorous action without undue stress. This is especially important when running, cycling, playing tennis and other intense physical exertion, because increased training causes stiffness and tension in muscles and joints. By doing stretching exercises before and after training, you will remain flexible and, possibly, save yourself from the most typical injuries, such as knee problems in runners and pain in your shoulders or elbows in tennis players. In connection with the fantastic increase in the number of fans of physical exercises, the need to obtain specific and accurate knowledge on this issue comes to the fore. Stretching exercises are quite simple, but doing them wrong can do more harm than good. That is why it is so important to master the basic skills in this area.
When to stretch?
You can practice stretching at any time that suits you: at work, in a car, at a bus stop, walking down the street, under a shady tree after a walk or on the beach. Do stretching before and after exercise, but, moreover, do not neglect any opportunity that appears during the day.
Here are some good things to do stretching exercises.
in the morning before the start of the working day
at work to relax the nervous system
after sitting or standing for a long time without moving
when the body goes numb
from time to time during the day, such as watching television, listening to music, reading or sitting and talking.
Stretch Benefits
Stretching allows the brain to relax and restores the rhythm of your body, so it should be part of your daily life.
Regular stretching brings many benefits.
reduces muscle tension and makes the body relax;
develops coordination, allows to move more freely and easier;
expands the range of available movements;
helps prevent injuries such as muscle strain (a strong, flexible, heated muscle can withstand stress better than a strong, rigid, and not stretched);
prepares you for physical activity and facilitates classes associated with heavy loads, such as running, skiing, tennis, swimming and cycling; This is a kind of way to warn the muscles about the upcoming
testing;
Stretching helps maintain the flexibility of your body and prevents the reduction of joint mobility;
teaches you to feel your body: by stretching various parts of the body, you concentrate your attention on them and establish mental contact with them, thus gradually becoming aware of yourself;
helps to weaken mental control over the body, which begins to move “by itself”, and not at the command of your Self or by obeying the competitive instinct;
doing stretching exercises ensures you feel good.
