While strength and aerobic/cardiovascular fitness often come to mind, flexibility is one of the most overlooked components of fitness. Flexibility is specific to everyone, individually. Genetics, daily postural habits (as we discussed in the last blog topic), and current fitness levels are all factors. The more flexible you are, the less chance there is you will incur injury in the pursuit of your fitness goals or daily activity. The more flexible you are, the easier it is to perform the exercises or activities you enjoy- and the better the results are.
Flexibility must be pursued safely. Some must-have guidelines to remember are:
- Never jerk, bounce, or force a stretch.
- Make sure to perform a warmup, at a minimum. This can include light cardio work for five to fifteen minutes, or what we call dynamic flexibility– performing light exercises that mimic the stretches to come.
- Ease into your stretch, and hold when it feels on the verge of slight discomfort- but not pain. After thirty seconds, your nervous system will relax the muscle and allow you to ease into the stretch further.
Just as with anything fitness related or any other area of our life, the more you practice stretching the better you become at that activity. Read the article on Yankees’ star Ichiro Suzuki- and how a flexibility program has helped him stay injury free. The Secret Gym of Ichiro Suzuki The coaches and the rest of the team are now following his lead after seeing what it has done for him.
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