What to do and NOT do if you want to improve your Flexibility

Can you do the splits? Touch your head with your toes?

No! Neither can the majority of the population. But even if your ambition is not to be a bendy gymnast or circus performer it is still important to have good flexibility.

Good flexibility is important so that you can do everyday activities without your range of movement being restricted or you ending up injuring yourself.

Can you stand and tie your shoelaces up by bending over with straight legs?
Can you turn round in the car and reach for your seatbelt without your shoulder pulling?
Can you turn your head and look over your shoulder easily?
Do you struggle to bend over and pick things up from the floor?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions then you would benefit from improving your flexibility.

A significant lack of flexibility can dramatically affect your posture and can impair your performance of daily movement causing aches, pains and injuries.

So, here’s what to do to improve your flexibility

Do:

• Stretch every day
• Hold stretches long enough. (15-30 seconds)
• Repeat stretches. (4 x 15 second stretch or 2 x 30 second stretch)
• Do a variety of different stretches –
  • static (hold a stretch still)
  • dynamic (stretching whilst moving e.g. hamstring curls)
  • active (use own strength to stretch e.g. flexing foot involves you contracting the front of the shin so you can stretch the calf muscle)
  • passive (use a wall, resistance band or partner to help you stretch so your muscles are relaxed whilst stretching)
• PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation – where you push against something whilst in the stretch and then stop pushing and relax into the stretch further).
• Stretch any time of the day in order to balance out periods of immobility in positions of poor posture.
• Stretch after exercise to maintain your flexibility. During repeated contractions during exercise, the muscle becomes shorter and thicker and a stretch held for 10-15 seconds can be used to return the muscle to its normal length.
• Stretch when your muscles are warm to develop and improve your flexibility. Stretch to your point of tension and when the tension eases take the stretch further to increase the range of motion. Hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds and repeat, moving a little further into the stretch when the muscle relaxes.
• Use gravity to help you. Relax into the stretch and allow your body to become heavy.
• Do an exercise programme that works all muscles groups evenly and in a balanced way e.g. Pilates

What NOT to do:

• Don’t bounce – bouncing activates the stretch reflex (a safety mechanism to prevent overstretching) in the short term, causing the muscle to tense and contract to stop it exceeding the range of motion. This is counterproductive as it shortens rather than lengthens the muscle. Bouncing is more likely to lead to injury, just like if you kept bouncing an elastic band it would eventually snap.
• Don’t do just one type of stretch and hold for only 5 seconds – this won’t make any difference at all.
• Don’t do certain sports that reduce flexibility, e.g. jogging, football, cycling, boxing, hockey that involve movements where muscles are not worked through their full range. This can lead to muscle tightness and adaptive shortening. If you do these sports, make sure you rebalance your body by strengthening and stretching the opposing muscle groups.
• Don’t do imbalanced exercise programmes that overdevelop one muscle group while neglecting the opposing muscle group. This can cause muscle imbalances that restrict flexibility -for example, bodybuilders.
• Don’t do nothing - Inactivity can lead to muscle shortening and loss of flexibility. Stop sitting and get moving.

Not sure what stretches to do or how to do them? Join me for a FREE stretch session every week for 8 weeks.

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Do the stretch session every day and let me know how you get on.

Gila x