Anyone can do stretching exercises and flexibility, regardless of their level of training. Stretching allows you to achieve maximum flexibility and avoid damage during extreme loads on certain muscles or joints that occur during the competition.
But even for ordinary fans, stretching is useful, because it allows you to develop mobility and graceful movements.
- How to stretch
- When you can’t stretch
- Beginner Tips
- Static and dynamic stretching
- Gluteus Stretch
- Stretching the calf muscles
- Hips
- For stretching the chest
- For the press
- For neck stretch
- A set of exercises for stretching the spine and back muscles with a photo
- Exercises for stretching legs on transverse and longitudinal twine
- Yoga exercises for stretching joints
- Video on how to do stretching exercises and flexibility
How to stretch
First of all, you need to competently draw up a training program, having studied the structural features of your body. Attempts will fail at first, so patience is crucial. Immediately to achieve maximum results is unrealistic.
Stretching exercises for beginners at home should be done slowly and progressively. Some immediately begin to do stretching exercises at a fast pace, which inevitably leads to injuries or damage to muscles, ligaments and joints. Do not overstretch muscle fibers, because this leads to overstrain and poor performance.
An indication that stretching is not performed correctly is the presence of pain. If you do not stop on time, this will lead to tearing of muscles that lose elasticity. The training program should be designed for a long time with a gradual and very smooth increase in load. It is thanks to this that it is possible to achieve maximum results without harm to your health.
An important factor in the effectiveness of stretching exercises is proper breathing. It should be slow and not accelerated. Contributes to this smooth and accurate execution of exercises. You should pay attention to the signals that the body gives. If breathing is lost in one of the poses and it becomes difficult to breathe correctly, then the pose has been chosen incorrectly and should be changed.
An inevitable companion to stretching is a preliminary warm-up, without which any stretching exercises are fraught with damage. It is necessary to walk, run a little, perform a series of exercises of a warming nature, and only then begin to stretch.
When you can’t stretch
Despite the importance of stretching, in some cases it cannot be performed categorically. For example, do not stretch if a person has a severe spinal injury so as not to aggravate the situation. The same goes for people who have sore joints.
Do not stretch your legs if they are injured or there are cracks in the bones. A ban on stretching is also high blood pressure. Fully healthy people also need to follow the most important safety rules, otherwise stretching can cause serious injury.
Before any stretching, you should stretch yourself , otherwise the body will remain, as the trainers and fitness instructors put it, “cold” and you can damage joints, ligaments or muscles, up to a micro burst.
Be sure to interrupt the stretching exercise if the person felt a sharp pain, dizziness, crunch in the bones and other pathological symptoms. If the sensations persist after, you need to seek help from a medical specialist.
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Beginner Tips
Flexibility and stretching exercises for beginners need to be done very carefully. As a rule, for beginners, muscles are poorly developed, the necessary training is lacking, so it is logical to consult a professional trainer or fitness instructor.
If this is not possible, it is enough to follow the tips that will be discussed below. Many stretching exercises are performed at home with the help of only your body and improvised means. The result is easy to achieve good flexibility.
However, all newcomers need to adhere to the following fundamental tips:
- Before any workout, including stretching, a thorough and comprehensive warm-up is necessary, otherwise injuries are possible.
- All exercises, regardless of sports training and form, must be performed carefully and smoothly.
- If pain occurs, the exercise should be stopped at least temporarily.
- All training should be performed on a regular basis, otherwise they will not bring efficiency.
- Patience is important because to a new exercise, the body fully gets used only after some time.
Static and dynamic stretching
Two types of exercises are used to stretch the whole body. Many types of stretch marks are based on static execution. In this case, any exercise is performed as smoothly and at the slowest pace. Moreover, you can achieve the effect by doing it yourself or using the help of another person or simulator.
The main thing in this case is to achieve a slight burning sensation, but in no case bring the matter to pain.
At the end point, you need to linger for a certain period of time. For beginners, this type of stretching is the most difficult, since it requires patience and willpower.
In turn, dynamic stretching focuses on the fact that the muscles are in a state of tension all the time. Approaches are carried out vigorously, it is usually not necessary to linger in the final position, as this makes no sense. In addition, there is no pause in dynamic stretching.
Professional trainers advise combining static and dynamic stretching. Moreover, exercises based on a dynamic principle are best for warming up. And only after they should perform static stretching.
Gluteus Stretch
Stretching the gluteal muscles is an important component of stretching exercises.
The gluteal muscles are most effectively stretched when performing the following exercise – bending the knees to the chest:
- First of all, you need to lie on your back on a gymnastic mat.
- Next, one of the legs bends to the knee until an angle of slightly more than 90 degrees is observed.
- After that, you need to clasp her hands.
- Then smoothly pull the bent leg to the chest.
- It is required to stay in this position for about 15-20 seconds for beginners and about 30-35 seconds for more experienced and trained people.
- After that, gently lower it to its original position and change the leg.
- For maximum results, you need to do 7-8 sets of each foot.
What is important, this exercise allows you to effectively stretch the back of the thigh.
Stretching the calf muscles
Specialists invented the most diverse and effective exercises for stretching legs. The simplest and most popular stretching exercises for the various muscles of the legs are mahi. With their help, the calf muscles are also effectively stretched and heated.
To achieve maximum effect, you must:
- Stand straight, feet should be at shoulder width.
- Put your hands on your belt.
- Slowly make side movements resembling the movement of a pendulum at the clock,
reaching the maximum possible amplitude. - In the final position, hold the leg for 10-15 seconds, and then return to its original position.
- Perform a swing with the other foot.
This is a basic exercise that allows you to stretch a lot of different muscles in a complex. Cross accent is more accentuated for calf stretching.
Necessary:
- Stand up straight, place your feet shoulder width apart.
- With a sharp movement, raise the leg to the opposite arm.
- Ideally, keep your leg straight and touch your palm.
- Return to starting position and perform lifting with the other leg.
Hips
To stretch the hips, several exercises are performed, each of which involves certain muscle groups.
To stretch the muscles of the back of the thigh, you must perform the following sequence of actions:
- Stand straight, step forward with your foot and put it on your heel.
- Lean forward and hold the shin with your hands.
- Perform 7-8 smooth inclinations until a burning sensation is felt in the muscles of the back surface.
- After that, make the maximum tilt and stay in position for 15 seconds.
- Return to starting position and change leg.
To stretch the quadriceps of the thigh, another exercise is used:
- You need to stand up straight, take a step forward, bend your knee, keep the body upright.
- Tear off the heel of the hind leg and stretch the quadriceps muscle as far as burning.
- Hold in this position for 10-15 seconds.
- After that, return to the starting position and change the leg.
To achieve the extension of the abducting muscles of the thigh, it is required:
- Lie on a gym mat on your back.
- Spread your arms wide apart, with the result that the body takes the form of the letter T.
- Raise your straight leg up to an angle of 90 degrees.
- With a sharp movement, move the leg to the opposite arm and touch the floor.
- Hold at the end point for 10 seconds.
- Return to the starting position by reversing the sequence and changing the leg.
Stretching the anterior thigh muscle is performed as follows, it is necessary:
- Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart.
- Bend your leg at the knee and grab your foot in your palm.
- Slowly pull it towards the gluteus maximus while maintaining a straight leg position.
- Hold at the end point for 15-20 seconds.
- Return to starting position and change leg.
For stretching the chest
To stretch the muscles of the chest and shoulder girdle you will need a special device – bodybar.
This is a wide pole, quite thick in girth. At home, if it is not, you can take any stick – an ordinary floor mop will do.
The exercise is as follows:
- It is necessary to pick up the bodybar and stand in such a way that it is on outstretched arms above the head, the hands should be at a distance wider than the shoulders.
- The back should be even, the lower back should never be bent to avoid injuries.
- With soft and smooth movements, the arms are taken as far as possible behind the head.
- Confirmation of the correctness of the exercise will be pain and sprain in the muscles of the chest.
- After that, you need to hold your hands in this position for 15-20 seconds for beginners and 30-35 seconds for more experienced athletes.
- After the hands with bodybar are placed in front of you and the muscles are stratified.
- Exercise needs to be repeated 7-8 approaches.
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For the press
Effective stretching of the press is difficult.
The following several exercises can help with this:
- It is necessary to stand upright, legs are standardly located at shoulder level.
- Hands must be connected.
- Straightened arms, locked in a lock, rise above the head.
- Palms straighten away from the head.
- After this, it is necessary to tighten the abdominal muscles, while at the same time the arms stretch as far as possible.
- Then you should lean to the side, stretching as much as possible.
- After that, in the final position you need to linger for 30 seconds.
- They return to their original position and repeat the exercise, leaning in the other direction.
Another good exercise can be called turns:
- Performing the exercise is easiest when sitting in a regular chair.
- Keep your back straight, feet do not tear off the floor.
- A turn is made to the side, the back of the chair is grabbed with your hands.
- It is necessary to stay in this position for 10-15 seconds, then slowly return to the initial position.
- Repeat the exercise the other way. In total, 5-7 approaches are performed.
For neck stretch
Be sure to stretch your neck. Moreover, this is true both for amateurs and professional athletes, for example wrestlers, who during training sessions and competitions often experience severe loads on the cervical spine.
The following exercise received the highest assessment of effectiveness:
- Stand up, relax and lower your arms, in addition, you can not strain the shoulder body.
- After that, tilt the head to the shoulder.
- To strengthen the stretch, put a hand on the head, thereby significantly increasing the pressure.
- Make several inclinations, and then hold your head in this position for 10 seconds.
- Return the head to its original state and repeat the exercise in the opposite direction.
A set of exercises for stretching the spine and back muscles with a photo
Exercises for stretching the back and spine should be performed with extreme caution. Preliminary warm-up is required. This is due to the fact that if they are damaged, then the person will become constrained and will not be able to perform any physical activity, because everything, in the human body, is connected with the back, one way or another.
One of the most popular is the following exercise:
- Get on all fours.
- After this, it is necessary, without changing the position of the arms and legs, to bend the back as much as possible. It is important to use all parts of the spine.
- After that, you need to bend your back.
- Everything is done at a very slow pace with a delay in the final position for 5-10 seconds.
- Performs from 5 to 10 approaches.
In addition, you can use another exercise:
- Sit on the floor, keep your legs bent at the knees.
- Keep the body relaxed.
- As you exhale, lean forward strongly, as much as possible, ideally, you need to touch the floor with your chest.
- Hold in this position for about 30 seconds.
- Return to the starting position and slowly repeat it, all you need to do 5-6 approaches.
Exercises for stretching legs on transverse and longitudinal twine
One of the most popular exercises that stretch the leg muscles is twine. It is of two types: longitudinal and transverse. The latter is more effective, however, and much more difficult to perform, especially by an inexperienced person.
Transverse twine perfectly develops flexibility. Be sure to pre-conduct a warm-up with which the muscles and ligaments will be adequately warmed up.
The set of stretching exercises for the transverse twine is as follows:
- For starters, lunges in the right and left sides. In each position they are delayed for 3-4 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
- They put their feet on a support (it should be above the chest) and lean toward it sideways, with the opposite hand trying to grab the ankle of a raised leg.
- The leg remains on the support, clinging to her heel. The other leg is slowly taken to the side and back, gliding along the floor, to the extent possible. Hold for a few seconds.
- Sitting on the floor and legs spread as wide as possible, one should lie on the floor with the body, and press against the floor as tightly as possible.
- Lunge from the knee is performed like this. The knee of a bent leg should be placed on a slight elevation, and the other leg should be set aside. Hands rest on the floor.
- Hands resting on the floor, legs in the hips are in the position of the transverse twine, but bent at the knees and laid back. The pose resembles a frog. Hold the position for several seconds. You can complicate the exercise if you do not lean on your hands, but raise them above your head, locked in a lock.
- They stand against the wall, lean with their hands on the floor, buttocks abut against the wall. The legs are gradually placed in the transverse twine and held in the lowest position for several seconds.
The transverse twine itself is performed as follows:
- Need to squat.
- Hands are put forward on the floor.
- One leg is laid to the side, it should be straightened.
- The second leg is diverted to the other side.
- After this, it is necessary to slowly begin to spread the feet even wider without bending the legs and lowering the pelvis.
- Keep your back straight.
- Sit down on the twine right away, so do the exercise to the maximum point.
- In a few weeks, you’ll be able to drop completely.
Longitudinal twine is more suitable for beginners, as it’s easier to sit on it.
Here are exercises to help stretch your muscles:
- You need to sit on the floor, legs straighten and connect together in front of you. Torso lean forward and grab the feet of your hands, try to bend as low as possible.
- Lunge with one foot forward. Then the leg, which turned out to be behind, is put on the knee and, bending the leg at the knee, the ankle is pressed with the opposite hand to the thigh and buttocks. The other arm, bent at the elbow, rests on the floor.
- Starting position – lying on your back, legs bent at the knees. Then one leg is straightened and pulled to the chest, helping with the hands. At the same time, do not forget to pull the sock and observe the straightness of the legs in the knee. When the leg is maximally pulled to the chest, the other leg is gradually straightened, trying to press it to the floor.
- You will need a chair for this exercise. It is necessary to put one leg on a chair with a lift, and then, gradually pushing the other leg apart, spread the legs in longitudinal twine, with one leg lying on the chair seat.
The twine itself is done like this:
- You need to sit with your legs bent under you, your knees are shoulder-width apart.
- Then they rise on their knees, lean with their hands on the floor and put one straight leg forward.
- Then they take back the leg, which is still bent at the knee.
- Try to fall as low as possible.
Yoga exercises for stretching joints
In yoga, there are many different poses, or in other words, asanas, involving stretching. Most of them are an insurmountable obstacle for an unprepared person, but there are also such poses that even an amateur is able to perform correctly.
The most popular way to stretch your hip joints is the lotus position:
- For its implementation, it is imperative to conduct a slow warm-up warm-up.
- Then you need to sit on the floor and straighten your legs.
- Taking one of the legs, they lean its foot against the inner thigh of the opposite leg.
- The same thing needs to be done with the other leg.
- Hands in a relaxed position should be put on the knees with brushes.
- Then you just need to be in this position for a certain amount of time, gradually increasing the duration each time.
- Then the legs are swapped and the approach is repeated, which is very important for uniform stretching of the joints.
Without stretching, it is impossible to keep the body fit. It is performed before any kind of training, and it doesn’t matter whether they are focused on muscle growth, development of endurance or weight loss. There are stretching and flexibility exercises that affect muscles, ligaments, and joints. Some are only for professionals, while others are available for amateurs.
Video on how to do stretching exercises and flexibility
A set of exercises for f
lexibility of the back:
A set of exercises for stretching at home: