Stretching into the next phase!

Firstly to all of you that have started living a new lifestyle: well done! To those of you in the process of making this decision, also well done! To those of you not there yet, well, we will keep all our articles and programmes on site for you to access as soon as you have made that decision!

During the last month the objective of the training programme was to activate your muscles, tendons and joints to resistance exercise. Remember that the programmes I have supplied, focus on the use of resistance equipment and are therefore applicable to all of you who have access to this equipment. 

Your first month’s exercises were performed predominantly on machines, making the movement easy and simple. During the following phase of specific training more free weights will be used instead of machines. 

The biggest disadvantage of an exercise machine is the non-functional movement pattern through which the exercises take place. Using free weights, whole-body exercises incorporating more muscle activity can be performed. Movements that more closely resemble typical human movement can then be converted into very useful and quite taxing exercises. 

The following week I would like to focus on an aspect that will probably later become the most neglected aspect of your training routine: stretching! 

The Warm-up
A warm-up activity is important before any exercise activity. To avoid muscle injury, you should raise your body’s internal temperature and increase the blood circulation rate, so that all limbs and muscles can be supplied with richly oxygenated blood. This, as has been shown in the previous programmes, can be done by means of various cardio-respiratory activities. 

Now that we are going into a month where we will focus on a particular muscle group per day, it is worth knowing that your warm-up period can actually be split in two: (1) a general warm-up period (cardio-respiratory activity for 10-15 minutes) and, (2) the specific warm-up incorporating similar movements and specific muscle stretches for the exercises that follow.

Stretching
Optimal muscle flexibility can improve the way in which you do any exercise by increasing the range of motion of a joint, and thereby possibly decreasing the risk of musculoskeletal injury. Individual stretches should be held to the point of mild discomfort for approximately 30 seconds, nut there should be no real pain.These should be repeated two-to-three times. The discomfort should disappear 15-20 seconds if the stretch position is kept static.

When should you stretch? The average person should stretch before and after each workout. Stretching before the workout enhances performance by increasing the available range of motion of the joints and muscles as well as  improving functional ability. 

Post-exercise stretching should ideally be performed within 5-10 minutes after the end of the exercise session. Stretching after your workout would definitely decrease any delayed onset muscle soreness 12-48 hours after exercise.

The flexibility warm-up/cool-down programme provided for this week includes only static stretching and it is  simple and safe. Have a look at the group-training schedule at your nearest health and fitness club and join a yoga class to see how far you can stretch those limbs.

Good luck for the stretching and remember the following points: 

1. Take 5-10 seconds to get "into" the stretch
2. Exhale into the stretch (there should be no pain, only slight stretch-discomfort) and relax
3. Do not bounce! Hold the stretch static for 20-30 seconds
4. Slowly release the stretch while inhaling
5. Relax for 10-15 seconds before you repeat the stretch
6. Do not rush through your stretches! – they are as important as your exercise routine!

Full-Body Warm-up and Cool-down Stretch Routine

Stretching  Exercise	Sets	Time	Load
Side-to-side Neck	2	20-30 sec
Forward-backward Neck	2	20-30 sec
Back of Shoulder	2	20-30 sec
Front of Shoulder	2	20-30 sec
Triceps Stretch	2	20-30 sec
Biceps Stretch	2	20-30 sec
Chest Stretch	2	20-30 sec
Upper-back	2	20-30 sec
Lower-back	2	20-30 sec
Gluteus/Buttocks 1 & 2	2	20-30 sec
Hamstrings	2	20-30 sec
Quadriceps	2	20-30 sec
Hips	2	20-30 sec
Inner Thighs	2	20-30 sec
Additions: