Sept 12, 2012 – Healthy Workout Procedures For Weight Loss
I visited a sick neighbour some years ago who had stroke. I felt so sorry for her and when I asked how it all began, I was told she wanted to save her little girl who had broken a glass cup from getting injured. And in an attempt to save her child by rushing to pull her out of the danger zone, she fell and collapsed.
Luckily, a close friend of hers who stopped by to greet her, saw her on the floor and quickly rushed her to hospital. The doctor examined her and broke the bad news to her family that she had been diagnosed of stroke.
Studies have shown that inactivity is one of the reason for stroke.
Your flexibility is determined by how mobile your joints are. How easily can you move, stretch, and bend? We all start life with incredible abilities. Have you seen babies manage to place their tasty toes into their tiny mouth? Newborns are very flexible. We all spend nine months curled up into a little ball. It takes us a lifetime to grow stiff and tight, unbendable and inflexible.
Muscular flexibility improves your posture, appearance and overall performance. By staying flexible, you can decrease the risk of joints injuries and muscle strains. When you have engaged in too much activities, stretching can also help reduce muscle soreness.
As you get older, your flexibility naturally decreases. However, with a regular stretching programme you can slow down the process. Regular stretching improves posture, corrects muscle imbalances, soothes painful areas of the body, gives you a supple figure with elongated muscles, and improves your flexibility. Females generally have more flexibility than men.
It is important to stretch properly to avoid injury; bouncing stretching is not recommended; static stretching that holds the muscle in one position without bouncing is best. And stretching is more effective when you warm up properly first. Warm muscles will relax and lengthen much more readily.
Our bodies are incredibly adaptable machines. If we keep doing exactly the same thing (such as walking or running each day), over time our bodies will burn approximately 25 per cent less calories while doing that activity. For those of us who are trying to burn maximum calories, this is not good news!
Body Confidence Fitness Centre recommends flexibility training three times a week. These sessions need not be long; five to 10 minutes will stretch the whole body. Hold each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds and repeat each three to five times for best results.
Important Rules To Keep In Mind
About Stretching
•Move slowly. Hurrying is the antithesis to stretching. Feel the stretch-but not the pain.
•Hold each stretch for 10 counts or at least work up to that.
•Don’t bounce or jerk. This contracts the muscle instead of elongating it. Plus you risk injuring yourself. Torn muscles take weeks and months to heal.
•Breath deeply. Stretching can actually increase your lung capacity if you concentrate on breathing deeply into your diaphragm. The increase in oxygen is beneficial. And deep breathing calms you down, releasing stress and tension from your body.
•Work flexibility exercises into your daily life. Does a cat have a special time for stretching? No. She does it whenever she feels like her body needs it.
A good slow stretch will wake you up in the morning. Remember that stretching energises you. When you are behind your desk in the afternoon or while driving on a trip, stop and take a stretch break.
