How to improve your flexibility

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How to improve your flexibility 

Flexibility and stretching is one of the most overlooked and neglected forms of exercise for most people in the gym. Even though an improved flexibility can ward off injury, enhance your exercise capabilities and even increase muscle growth! So why is it so neglected? Especially as we age and lose our flexibility! The answer is that most trainees just want to lose weight, get their abs out or get big, they’re not interested in prolonging the time spent in the gym doing the so called “pansy” stretches. Little do they know that it will make them bigger, stronger and more efficient. Increasing flexibility is hard and it doesn’t happen overnight, as with anything you have to be consistent with it until you reach your desired goal.

Always Warm Up Before Stretching!

You must always warm up before stretching, whether this is a gentle jog or cycle to get loose or performing your workout beforehand, this will prevent injury and strain.

Perform Dynamic Stretching Before A Workout!

You should never perform any static stretching before a workout! Static stretching actually causes micro-tears in the muscle and weakens it, increasing your chance of injury! I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen athletes, sports teams and regular gym users performing static stretching before a workout! Dynamic stretching includes motion and is meant to mimic and exaggerate the movements of exercise, it’s a much safer form of stretching.

Perform Static Stretching After A Workout!

Static stretching is the stretching most of you will be familiar with, it involvbes holding a stretch in a static position for a period of time (usually around 15 seconds) Static stretching is great for improving flexibility but you must remember to be completely warmed up and not to do it before a workout as it presents a large risk of injury to tight muscles.

Try PNF Stretching!

PNF, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching, is the optimal stretching method when the goal is to increase range of motion, especially for short term results. PNF stretching is where you place a muscle into a position of stretch, then contract your target muscles for a short period of time (3-5 seconds), relax the muscles and continue the stretch even further. Imagine performing a chest stretch on a doorframe, once you have held the stretch, contract the chest muscles (by pushing your arm into the doorframe) for 3-5 seconds, relax and continue the stretch even further than before.

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