Getting Stretchy in the Park

Okay so I remember a time not too long ago when I was actually quite flexible, I mean I couldn’t exactly put my ankles behind my head or anything but I certainly could rest my head on my knees comfortably.

This is when I used to do more exercise at home, now I’m more of a gym-bunny and I guess no-one really likes getting all bendy and stretchy in front of everyone right? But more than that, I have spoken to quite a few of my gym buddies and a lack of flexibility exercises and stretching seems to be a trend. 

Now I tested my flexibility this morning and erm..could only just touch my toes! Eek! Flexibility is really important as it keeps us agile, improves our sporting performance as well as our posture and protects against strains and injuries. 

So according to Ultra FIT Your Own Personal Trainer author John Shepherd you should do 5-10mins of cardio prior to stretching to warm up your muscles and prepare them for stretching so I took myself off to the park to get started!

I had a 15min jog around the park to warm up. Once my muscles were all warmed I began with stretching my legs; calves and hamstrings in both sitting and standing poses, holding each for 10-15 seconds. I hadn’t realized how tight I’d allowed my muscles to get! If holding a pose was difficult (which sadly I must admit they were) I took two deep breaths and, as I exhaled was able to push the stretch a bit further.

I then went on to stretch my inner thighs, hips, arms, back, chest, oblique muscles and neck. This was a quite a long session of mainly static stretches. Of course depending on your work out goals you should opt for different types of stretches. For example pre-cardio you should only undertake dynamic stretches such as high knees and heel flicks. However if pushing your flexibility is the goal it is important to include proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretches (to you and me this basically means assisted stretching) you can use a band or a partner to help push your stretch that little bit further than you could unaided.

As you can imagine all this stretching takes up a bit of time so I have decided to choose a few key poses every day to practice and enhance my flexibility. I'm also going to try and get into yoga; I must admit I don't find it as appealing as say, kick boxing, but for the sake of my goals I will be putting in the effort!