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Ask any of the health or fitness experts about how to attain body flexibility; they will surely advise you to start practicing stretching exercises! Ideal and best ways to elongate your muscles and improve ROM , these exercises not only prepare your body for rigorous trainings but also helps you to attain mental stability and boosts up the adaptive capability of your body.
Practicing the right set of stretching activities also increases neuromuscular coordination, blood supply, reduces muscular contractions and various risk factors. Know more about these body-flexibility boosting techniques for a better and healthy life!
Types and Benefits of Stretching Exercises
1. Standing Side Stretch
To do this stretching exercise perfectly, you should start by standing straight with both the feet together. Post this, raise both your hands straight to overhead position and clasp them together.
Once your hands are in aligned with the rest of your body, take a deep breath and start bending your body in either left or right direction. Try to bend it as much as possible; after reaching the maximum point, take five slow, but gradual breaths and return to the center steadily. Now, repeat the same for the other direction.
It helps you realign the spinal column and relaxes most of your body muscles to improve blood circulation throughout the body.
2. Forward Hang Stretch
Get started with the forward hang stretching exercise by placing your feet at a hip distance from each other; keep your knees bent to some extent to improve your ground stability. Following this, interlace both your hands behind the back; in case, your hands don’t clasp together, you can use dish towels or other such supports.
Take a deep breath and start bending to your waist; while doing so, make sure both of your hands stretch towards the from part of your body. Hold yourself still in that position to take five deep breaths and return to the normal posture.
Hand stretching makes your spine stronger and flexible. ITs other benefits include reducing anxiety, stress, and depression level along with activating abdominal muscles.
3. Quad Stretches
Begin this muscle relaxing exercise by standing against a wall for body support; with practice, you would be able to do it without any support. Place one of your hands on the wall and hold any of the outside foot with the other hand
Once you have a tight grip on your foot, start lifting it towards the rear end; while doing so, ensure that your knees and thighs are together. Repeat this for several times while taking deep breaths and then change it to the other feet.
Quad stretching helps your muscles to relax and prepare them for short-term exercises like running, jogging, walking, and doing lunges. It also boosts up your blood circulation along with energy level and makes you less prone to injuries.
4. Runner’s Stretching Exercises
This one is among the easiest stretching exercises for all age groups. To do this, you should start by standing straight and take one of your legs behind you while keeping the front heel intact on the floor. While doing so, you must make sure that it does not get lifted.
Now, position both of your hands onto the sides of your leg and breathe slowly while pushing your buttocks towards the ceiling and then pull it down.
As you repeat this stretching exercises for a couple of times, you can feel your muscles getting warmed up and lengthening up. It heals the wounded muscles naturally and get them back to normal conditions.
5. Hamstring and Calf Stretching Exercises
Place any of your feet in front of the other and start leaning down to your torso while keeping your waistline fixed to one position. While reaching over to your foot in the front, do not forget to flex your ankle so that your toes can get pulled towards your body.
Hold the outward tip of your ankle for few seconds and come back to relaxed position. Repeat the same for a couple of times, and do it with the other foot.
Hamstring and Calf stretching exercises prepare your body for any rigorous movements while participating in any sort of sports or physical games. They offer more flexibility to your heel and makes your hipline stronger.
