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Flexibility training is by far the most undervalued component of fitness. That's a shame because with something so simple and painless comes so many benefits...
Flexibility training improves your posture and helps to prevent low back pain. Stretching your hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors and low back muscles regularly, promotes relaxation in the tissues reducing the strain on your back.
Many experts now believe flexibility conditioning has an important role in maintaining healthy joints. Stretching increases tissue temperature, blood supply, nutrient transport to tissue and synovial fluid within the joint capsule. And what about athletic performance...
Every professional athlete will start and complete a training session with stretching exercises. It reduces the risk of injury during workouts and stretching after when muscle tissue is warm is a good way to increase flexibility.
Not many athletes realise one of the most important benefits of flexibility training... It is an integral component in speed and power development. Why?
A muscle can only contract as forcefully as its antagonist can relax (the quadriceps muscle for example will contract more quickly if the hamstring muscle group relaxes easily). Flexibility training has been shown to reduce tension and resistance in muscle tissue.
Too many athletes neglect flexibility training. A big mistake! Sport can have a quite an unbalancing effect on the body. Take racket sports for example...
The same arm is used to hit thousands of shots over and over again. One side of the body becomes more developed and is placed under more stress than the other. The same goes for golf and basketball. Even soccer, rugby and football players will have a predominate kicking foot.
Stretching regularly is essential for maintaining balance and reducing the risk of long term, chronic injury.
So what is flexibility?
Quite simply it is the range of motion about a joint. There are 3 categories of flexibility..
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1. Dynamic flexibility -- this is your ability to perform dynamic movements within the full range of motion in the joint. An example is twisting side to side.
2. Static Active flexibility -- this refers to your ability to stretch an antagonist muscle using only the tension in the agonist muscle. An example is holding one leg out in front of you as high as possible. The hamstring (antagonist) is being stretched while the quadriceps and hip flexors (agonists) are holding your leg up.
3. Static Passive flexibility -- this is your ability to hold a stretch using your body weight or some other external force. Using the example above imagine holding your leg out in font of you and resting it on a chair. Your quadriceps is not required to hold the extended position.
A flexibility training program can be made up of different types of stretching...
1. Dynamic stretching
2. Static Active stretching
3. Static Passive stretching
4. Isometric stretching
5. PNF stretching
Which type of flexibility training is best for you? Click on the links above to find out more about each type of flexibility training. Alternatively...
Visit the stretching exercises article for stretches and a flexibility training program you can use right now...
Flexibility training improves your posture and helps to prevent low back pain. Stretching your hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors and low back muscles regularly, promotes relaxation in the tissues reducing the strain on your back.
Many experts now believe flexibility conditioning has an important role in maintaining healthy joints. Stretching increases tissue temperature, blood supply, nutrient transport to tissue and synovial fluid within the joint capsule. And what about athletic performance...
Every professional athlete will start and complete a training session with stretching exercises. It reduces the risk of injury during workouts and stretching after when muscle tissue is warm is a good way to increase flexibility.
Not many athletes realise one of the most important benefits of flexibility training... It is an integral component in speed and power development. Why?
A muscle can only contract as forcefully as its antagonist can relax (the quadriceps muscle for example will contract more quickly if the hamstring muscle group relaxes easily). Flexibility training has been shown to reduce tension and resistance in muscle tissue.
Too many athletes neglect flexibility training. A big mistake! Sport can have a quite an unbalancing effect on the body. Take racket sports for example...
The same arm is used to hit thousands of shots over and over again. One side of the body becomes more developed and is placed under more stress than the other. The same goes for golf and basketball. Even soccer, rugby and football players will have a predominate kicking foot.
Stretching regularly is essential for maintaining balance and reducing the risk of long term, chronic injury.
So what is flexibility?
Quite simply it is the range of motion about a joint. There are 3 categories of flexibility..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Dynamic flexibility -- this is your ability to perform dynamic movements within the full range of motion in the joint. An example is twisting side to side.
2. Static Active flexibility -- this refers to your ability to stretch an antagonist muscle using only the tension in the agonist muscle. An example is holding one leg out in front of you as high as possible. The hamstring (antagonist) is being stretched while the quadriceps and hip flexors (agonists) are holding your leg up.
3. Static Passive flexibility -- this is your ability to hold a stretch using your body weight or some other external force. Using the example above imagine holding your leg out in font of you and resting it on a chair. Your quadriceps is not required to hold the extended position.
A flexibility training program can be made up of different types of stretching...
1. Dynamic stretching
2. Static Active stretching
3. Static Passive stretching
4. Isometric stretching
5. PNF stretching
Which type of flexibility training is best for you? Click on the links above to find out more about each type of flexibility training. Alternatively...
Visit the stretching exercises article for stretches and a flexibility training program you can use right now...
8 year veteran weight lifter age 18
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