This experience made me understand that many people ignore stretching training, so why is stretching so important to our fitness? There are two main reasons.
First of all, stretching and warming up before exercise can help improve your safety in training.
Secondly, stretching before exercise helps you gain higher strength and improve the flexibility of your body.
After understanding that stretching is so important, what can stretching do to be effective? Here I'd like to introduce some common stretching methods, which are suitable for warm-up before training.
Standing lateral bend
Objective: to stretch the oblique muscle outside abdomen and other muscles on the side of the body.
Action essentials: stand up straight, legs apart, slightly wider than shoulders, arms drooping. Raise your right hand over your head, then slowly bend to the left, and your left hand droops along your thigh. Bend your body as much as possible and keep this position for 30 seconds. Then return to the starting position, and the other side bends.
Stand forward, bend over
Objective: To stretch hamstring muscle and lower back.
Action essentials: stand up straight, put your legs together and bend forward. Hold the back of your leg as far down as possible with your hand-from knee, calf to ankle. Pull gently with your arm, keep your head as close to your thighs as possible, and stretch your hamstring and lower back to the maximum. Hold this position for 30 ~ 60 seconds, and then relax.
Stretching of hamstring muscle
Objective: To stretch hamstring muscle and lower back.
Action essentials: put one foot or ankle on the bracket, stand up straight with the other leg, bend your body to the raised leg, and hold your hand as far as possible to the front of the leg-from the knee and calf to the ankle or foot. Gently pull hard to make the hamstring muscle reach the maximum stretching state. Hold this position for about 30 seconds and relax. Then repeat the above action with the other leg.
Leg press lunge
Objective: To stretch the medial thigh, hamstring and gluteus maximus.
Action essentials: (1) Stand up straight, with one foot forward, bend your knees and squat down, so that your hind legs and knees touch the ground. Put your hands on both sides of your front foot, lean forward and stretch your inner thigh muscles to the maximum. (2) On the basis of the above posture, straighten the front legs, lock the knees, and stretch the hamstring muscles behind the legs. Bend your front legs and knees and squat down to the ground again. Finally, stand up straight, step forward with your other foot, and repeat the same stretching procedure.
Legs apart, sitting forward.
Objective: To stretch hamstring muscle and lower back.
Action essentials: (1) Sit on the floor. Keep your legs straight and open wide. Bend forward. Try to touch the front of your body with your hands. (2) Hold this position for a few seconds, and then try to put your hands on one leg-from knee to calf to ankle and foot. Gently pull the arm on the leg to stretch the hamstring and lower back to the maximum extent. Hold this position for 30 seconds, and then change the other leg.
Inner thigh stretching exercise
Exercise purpose: Stretch the inner thigh muscles.
Action essentials: sit on the floor. Pull your feet closer so that the soles of your feet touch each other. Hold your feet and pull as far as possible in the groin direction. Relax your legs, let your knees droop to the ground, and stretch the inner thighs. Press your knees tightly with your elbows to achieve full stretch. Keep this action for 30 ~ 60 seconds, and then relax.
Stretching exercise of quadriceps femoris
Objective: To stretch the front thigh.
Action essentials: Kneel and sit on the ground. Separate your feet so that you can sit between them. Put your hands back, lean back as far as possible, and feel the stretching of quadriceps femoris (for people with poor flexibility, the range of leaning back may not be too great. For people with good flexibility, they can lie on the ground. Keep this action for 30 ~ 60 seconds, and then relax.
Hurdle stretching
Objective: To stretch hamstring muscle and inner thigh.
Action essentials: sit on the ground. One leg stretches forward and the other leg bends sideways. Bend forward along the extended leg and hold the leg as far forward as possible with your arms-from the knee to the calf, ankle or foot. Gently exert force on your arm to reach the maximum stretch, keep this position for 30 seconds, change your other leg, and repeat the above actions. Be careful not to put too much pressure on the bent knee.
Spine torsion exercise
Objective: To strengthen the rotation range of trunk and stretch the lateral thigh muscles.
Action essentials: sit on the ground. Stretch your legs forward, lift your right knee and twist your body so that your left elbow can be placed outside the raised knee. Put your right hand on the ground behind you, and then twist it to the right as far as possible until you reach the limit. Hold this action for 30 seconds. Put down your right knee, raise your left knee and repeat the action on the other side.
Hanging stretching exercise
Exercise purpose: Stretch the spine and upper body.
Action essentials: Hold the single pole with both hands and hang your body below. Keep exercising for at least 30 seconds to relax and stretch your spine and upper body. On the premise of safety, you can also try hanging upside down to enhance the stretching of the spine.
Knowing so many stretching skills, give it a try. Do you feel much more comfortable fully stretching? When you warm up before fitness, you can spend 10 minutes doing the above stretching method again. By stretching the large muscle groups of the whole body, you will get twice the result with half the effort. Of course, the longer the stretching time, the better the flexibility of the body.
These stretching methods are not only suitable for warm-up before fitness, but also for warm-up before exercise, especially for people with serious joint strain, such as bending their heads, which can enhance the flexibility of the body and improve joint strain. You can do stretching exercises after working and studying for a long time, which will reduce fatigue and stretch your body and mind.