Check List!!

Hi all. Wish you a very happy and healthy new year.
By now, I hope you all have been following a good cool down routine instead of skipping it just to save 3-5 minutes! If not, the new year is the right time to start!

Usually, the stretches during the warm up phase (note: after an initial cardio warm up) are quite dynamic and must focus on the active part that will be used in the following main workout.
The ones after a workout, for cool down purpose are usually slow and done by holding the stretch for more than 20-30 seconds, and again focus on the active body parts used during the main workout routine.

Here is a general checklist of all the stretches that must be included in your warm up routine –

o Shoulder and neck – neck tilts, shoulder rotations, elevations etc.
o Upper back Stretches – full arm rotations, reaching out moves etc.
o Hamstring Stretches (Focuses on the back of the legs) – Forward bends, high kicks etc.
o Quadriceps Stretches (Focuses on the front part of the leg) – standing leg curls etc.
o Calf Stretches – (Back part of the lower part of the leg) – heel touch etc.
o Lower back Stretches – Forward bends – full and half, criss-cross forward bends etc.
o And many other muscles like – anterior tibialis (front part of the lower leg) as in toe touches, hip flexors as in back taps, Gluteus as in knee-ups and kicks.

Ask your trainer for the right technique and lots of variety in each stretch!
Perform each dynamic action 8-10 times for better effect.

Remember not to hold the stretches for a period of time since it has a relaxing effect and hence lowers the heart rate which was elevated through the warm-up. Since the core workout routine follows the warm up, lowering of the heart rate is not desirable for a better workout.

Stretchy Stories!!

The human body is an amazing piece of art! And understanding it can take a long, long time but you can only appreciate its beauty if you do understand it! There is a defined logic behind each and every occurrence in the body, and hence we can devise ways to keep it fit.
Last week we saw how important it is to cool down your body after a bout of exercise, and one of the most popular ways to do that is by stretching the active muscles.

Stretches are again of 2-3 types –
Active – when you perform the stretch on your own, till your comfortable range of motion
Passive – when someone else assists you to stretch
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching – when someone helps you to stretch using a slightly different procedure. This is usually used in a lot of rehab situations.

Stretching mainly targets the connective tissue, that is- the tendons that attach muscles to bones, and then the interconnected muscles, in that order. The flexibility of the connective tissue is a major factor deciding the range of motion around any joint.

I am sure all of us at some point of time, may have fallen asleep while being seated – at office, in a bus or anywhere..
The head usually falls to one side and, if it goes beyond a safe limit, the neck automatically jerks you up, and you try to keep your head upright!! The same is the case when you twist your ankle – you twist and suddenly jerk up to the original position.
This is called as the stretch reflex and is body’s natural mechanism to avoid injury due to over stretching. There are receptors in the connective tissue and the interconnected muscles that define the comfort level of your stretch…

However, while stretching in case of muscles which are shortened over a period of time, it is important to hold your
stretch comfortably for more than 20 - 25 seconds in order to re-align the muscles to their original lengths and avoid unnecessary activations of the different receptors.
Never perform any stretch when the muscle is cold. Always use a mild warm up and then perform the stretches.