My colleague Irfan and myself took a few pictures of ourselves demoing a few stretches, you will see some of those pictures later on on our partner website www.bootcampsouthdublin.ie and on this website.
I used two of the pictures for a related quote. It is about – physical, mental – stretching and general development. The quote is from Michael Gelb who wrote various books about “thinking“, “creativity“, “the Alexander Technique“, “mind mapping“. I read “How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci” years back. Da Vinci focused to be big degree on developing his senses and never ever stopped learning, exploring, discovering – he was a vegetarian, had phenomenal strength (bent a horse shoe with his bare hand), played various music instruments, wrote music, juggled, developed a power-shoot centuries before a plane was developed, talked about heart disease when the word heart disease didn’t really exist etc. etc. and everybody knows his paintings. The book is worth reading. Sorry I went off in a tangent here, here the link to the book. [amazon-product alink=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#ffffff” bordercolor=”#ffffff” region=”uk”]0007169655[/amazon-product]
5 Stretching – Flexibility Tips:
- DON’T do any static stretches before you start exercising.
It seems to be proven over and over again that pre-stretching doesn’t have any real benefits, pre-stretching is old school, I did it for decades. - Aim to hold your stretches for at least 25-30sec
to increase your flexibility. Holding stretches for less than 20sec is classified as maintenance stretching, 30+ seconds is so called developmental stretching. - Stretch ideally after each workout for at least 10mins
Make a point of stretching for a minimum of 10 minutes after working out.
This will help you to prevent injuries, you will recover quicker and
your just feel better. - Focus on the big / major muscles groups
that you used during your workout, e.g. after a run or jog – stretch the quads (the front of your upper legs), your hamstrings, inner legs, your calves, hip flexers, your mid and lower back and your shoulders. If you did a lot of upper body weights, resistance training – focus on stretching you chest, pecs, upper back, lats, shoulders, triceps, biceps and the neck area. - Stretch in between during the day e.g. in the office, at work
-> you boss will thank you for doing it!
Aim to get into the habit of getting up, standing up at least once every hour, move away from your desk, away from your desk top computer or laptop, stretch the legs, arms, shoulder and neck area out, shake loose, wondering around. It will do you and your employer good, as you will be more relaxed and productive. It is like a mini break from work. Studies regarding learning, work effectiveness show over and over again that regular breaks increase you mental performance and ability to focus.
Yours in Fitness and Health
Martin
