Ways to Increase Flexibility (Part 2)

All of you who started to stretch after reading my last blog can now do the splits like the girl above yes? Great. You are flexible for life. It’s actually me in this picture from my gymnastic days. I wanted to be humble so I superimposed someone else’s face.

Keep practicing the first three tips I mentioned from Ways to Increase Flexibility Part 1…

Here are two more ways you can increase flexibility today!

1.  Pre-Workout Stretching
   • Do you go to the gym? Walk Outside? Ride a bike? Start stretching right before your exercise of choice. It’s an easy way to mold it into your practice naturally. You have already made the decision to do a form of exercise…why not “sneak” in a few stretches to keep the ball rolling?
   • Stretching before an activity or exercise helps blood flow, lengthens tight muscles, and prepares the body for movement. Pencil in five to ten minutes of stretching and five minutes on the treadmill, and you’re ready for action!
2. Cultivate Your Breath

• • Get ready, get set…..breathe! (If I had a nickel for every time someone held their breath during our stretch therapy and training sessions…well, I’d have plenty of nickels)
  • Proper breathing creates quality movement, deeper stretches, and an added sense of relaxation. Breath will eventually become second nature to you over time. (I remember throwing temper tantrums as a kid with my mom saying “Damian, in through the nose and out through the mouth.” I now find myself saying that to my clients 🙂

As you can see, there are many ways to increase flexibility!

Here is a nice quote I found by Zig Ziglar recently….”Be firm on principle but flexible on method.” You don’t have to be gumby in order to maintain your flexibility. There is no need to compare yourself to the yogi standing in front of you. As you can see from this post and my last, there are numerous ways to increase flexibility. Flexibility comes with time. It’s not something you have to spend hours doing every day. It is something to incorporate a little bit at a time as part of your weekly nourishment to body and mind.

http://youtu.be/2JGEkkqPv1A

 

Photo Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Överspagat.jpg