Health and Fitness
New Year, New You…Or Something
By Cheryl Alker
“New Year, New You,” “New Year’s Resolution Number One,” “New Beginnings”…………….. the titles go on and on. Either I have written such an article at this time of year or I have read a million very similar articles. So for January 2017, as the writer of Around Wellington’s Health and Fitness article, I am not going to mention New Year’s Resolutions ……. Oh sorry, I guess I just did, but hey you know what I mean!
So this New Year I am going to give you something to try, something tangible, something to test to see if you may have been missing out on a vital component of your health and fitness.
It is no secret that I am a huge believer in the power of flexibility training. I have written training programs for continuing education credits, I have DVD’s featured on Amazon with five-star reviews, have written numerous Ebooks and health and fitness articles on the subject and continue to teach many clients on a day to day basis. It is not that I believe flexibility is more important than the other components of physical fitness it is just that most people do not know the importance and benefits of flexibility training or how to achieve it successfully.
Improved posture, improved wellbeing, improved functionality and performance, reduction in stiffness and pain; I literally could go on and on but why don’t I let you be the judge and jury.
Below is a little test you can try to measure the benefits of flexibility training for yourself. See if you feel the difference. Oh, and by the way, if you are suffering from back pain you certainly need to try these stretches!
So here it is folks, my New Year’s gift to you all, ENJOY, or not, did I mention that stretching can be a little uncomfortable?!!!!!
Before you begin:-
- Check with your Doctor or therapist. Is it safe for you to stretch?
- Warm up first. Cold muscles will increase your risk of injury. Take a short brisk walk and mobilize your joints first or stretch after your workout.
- Hold stretches for at least one minute. It takes time to lengthen tissues safely, also time must be allowed for correct alignment. Continually assess body alignment and learn to explore the muscle by changing leg arm or upper body position and weight applied.
- Don’t bounce. Bouncing as you stretch can cause small tears in the muscle. These tears leave scar tissue as the muscle heals which tightens the muscle even further – making you less flexible and more prone to pain.
- Focus on a pain-free stretch. Expect to feel tension while you are stretching but not pain. You should take the stretch to the point where you feel tension and then hold it, the feeling should go away after approximately 20 seconds, however, if it increases and the leg starts to shake back off and start the process again but more slowly this time.
- Relax and breathe freely. Do not hold your breath while you are stretching results will be far greater if you increase the stretch towards the end of the out-breath. Ensure you breathe deeply focusing your breath towards the front, sides and back of your ribcage.
Getting Started
- Lay on your back flat on the floor with both legs outstretched (not bent) and your hands by your sides.
- Take a moment to analyze what parts of your body are in contact with the floor/mat i.e. if you were laying in warm sand what impression would your body leave?
- Analyze your head position, shoulders, upper and lower back, pelvis, backs of the legs, knees, calves and ankles.
- Analyze the two sides of the body does one side feel heavier, lighter, longer, or shorter?
- How do your legs fall, in or out? Does one side fall in a different position to the other?
- Pay particular attention to how much contact you have or don’t have in the lumbar (lower) part of your spine.
- Is your lower back touching the floor, or is it pulled away from the floor?
- How deep is the curve?
The arrows on the stretches show you where you should drop weight and what should be moving away from each other i.e. in the stretch below weight should be dropped through the pelvis but you should lift the upper body away from the outstretched leg.