Stretching Exercises are an important part of your fitness routine, as they can help you avoid injuries and improve flexibility. But when it comes to stretching, some people tend to skip the recommended exercises and opt for more challenging workouts instead.
While it’s important to do resistance and core workouts, you also need to stretch.
Stretching is a great way to get your body ready for your next workout. It can help you prevent injuries and improve flexibility, and it can also help you lose weight. Stretching is a crucial part of your fitness routine, but some people tend to skip the recommended exercises and opt for more challenging workouts instead.
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Types of stretching exercises
There are three different types of stretching exercises:
- Static stretches
- Isometric stretches
- Dynamic stretching
Dynamic stretching
Dynamic stretches of the muscle groups to be exercised during physical training should be performed following a warm-up. dynamic stretches should not be jerky movements. in fact, any slow controlled movement that simulates the activity to be performed, executed for approximately 2 seconds is sufficient. Some suggested dynamic exercises are provided below
- Neck rolls
- Ceiling to floor chest stretch
- Up back and over stretch
- Press press fling
- Standing toe pointers
- Four-way leg swings
- Four-way lunges
- Trunk rotations
- Trunk twisters
Static stretching
Most of the benefits derived from flexibility training are obtained with a consistent,post-exercise, static stretching program. The stretching that is performed following exercise on one day helps to prepare the muscles for the next day’s exercise session.
The following stretches can be incorporated into a post-exercise stretching program by selecting 1-3 stretches for each anatomical location listed.
Remember to balance the front of the body with the back-eg hip extensors with hip flexors, and hamstrings with quadriceps. Select more stretches for those body areas exercised eg legs after a run, and shoulders after a swim. Perform 2-5 repetitions per stretch, hold for 15-30 seconds then relax for 10-15 seconds. Note: these stretches are all no-count exercises.
- Lateral and forward -neck stretch
- Chest stretch
- Swimmers stretch
- upper back stretch
- Posterior shoulder stretch
- Forearm/wrist stretch
- Triceps stretch
- Supine back stretch
- Overhead trunk side stretch
- Torso prone stretch(press-ups, lizard)
- Hip cross over
- Iliopsoas stretch
- Hip stretch
- kneeling lunge with pelvic tilt
- Butterflies
- Groin stretchers
- Standing or prone quad stretch
- Shin/quad stretch
- Hurdlers stretch (quadriceps)
- Three-way hurdlers stretch
- Seated head to knee (sitting hamstring)
- Supine or sitting hamstring stretch
- Achilles stretch
- soleus stretch
- Gastroc stretch
- ITB stretch
Isometric stretches
Isometric stretches work on muscles by using them as a weight, rather than relying on gravity to do the work. Isometric movements, such as side plank poses, require you to hold a certain pose without moving your body. When you’re doing them, focus on your breathing and concentrate on the muscles you want to stretch.
