"No Bone": How to Stretch

Any sports training necessarily includes stretching. It is necessary to reduce the risk of injury during training. In everyday life, good stretching will help you maintain muscle tone and improve blood circulation. Today we’ll talk about how to stretch properly.

How to stretch correctly

Before you start stretching, it would be nice to know what you can do to improve the elasticity of muscles and ligaments, and what you absolutely cannot do.

Here are some rules for stretching:

• Before stretching, the muscles need to be warmed up. This will improve their elasticity, saturate them with oxygen and increase blood circulation.
• Do everything gradually. Jerking too hard can lead to injury; make all movements smoothly.
• To begin, do each exercise for 30 seconds. Then gradually increase the time to a minute.
• Do not strain the stretched muscle while performing the exercise. This may result in injury. The muscle must be relaxed.
• Keep your back straight. Even if you do a body twist, do not bend your back, but twist it in a straight position.
• In the initial stages of stretching, limit yourself to simple exercises. As your flexibility increases, add more complex ones to your routine.
• Exercise regularly. It's better to spend 15 minutes exercising every day than trying to make up for lost time in one workout.

How to stretch to do the splits

Execution twine involves a very good stretch of the thigh muscles and ligaments. Therefore, serious training will be required to complete it. Don't expect to be able to do the splits after a week of training. You must commit to daily practice for several months.

There are several types of twine: longitudinal, transverse, performed on the hands, sagging and vertical. The easiest way is to make longitudinal twine. For this reason, we will focus only on it.

Do these daily exercises and soon you will be able to do the splits with pride:

• Stand straight and place your feet at shoulder level. Now take a long step forward with one leg. Place your hands on the floor on either side of your feet. The second leg should be straightened, and the shin of the supporting leg should make a right angle with the floor. Now spring back to feel the muscle tension.
• Without changing your position, raise your straight arms and stretch them upward. This way you will work your muscles better.
• Now place the knee of the leg behind you on the floor and place your hands on your waist. Bend your back as far as you can. It is allowed to throw your head back, but you can keep it straight.
• Straighten your back leg again. Place your hands on both sides of your legs, point your elbows to the sides. Stretch your chest towards the floor, but keep your back straight.
  Repeat all exercises, changing legs.

How to do stretching for beginners

If you're serious about working on your flexibility, but have never stretched before, it's best to start with dynamic stretching. This type of stretching involves performing rotating and swinging movements. They must be done until the muscles feel tired. To do this, it is enough to perform from 10 to 15 repetitions of one exercises. Doing exercises longer is not only pointless, but also dangerous. After all, tired muscles tend to contract and can no longer be stretched.

The following exercises are suitable for beginners:

• Swing your leg to the side. Each time, increase the height of your leg lift. Do not bend your knees. For convenience, you can lean your hands, for example, on the back of a chair or on a wall.
• Now swing your legs forward and backward. Raise your leg as high as possible.
  Lean forward with your legs straight. Try to reach the floor with your hands; if you can, place your palms on the floor.

Having completed dynamic stretching, you can begin springing exercises. During such exercises, relax your muscles as much as possible, then the effect will be better.

• Spread your legs as wide apart as possible. Bend one leg at the knee and transfer your body weight to it. Keep your back straight. Now spring down. Switch legs.
• Sit on the floor, straighten your legs and spread them to the sides. Now alternately bend your straight body towards one leg, then towards the second and straight. Fix your body in the tilted position for a few seconds and spring down.

How to stretch: video

In order for your workouts to be more effective, and the results to not be long in coming, it is best, of course, to work out with a trainer in the fitness room. But not everyone has the time and money to visit fitness clubs. But there is a way out - study on your own using special video lessons.

These videos will show you how to do this or that exercise correctly, how many times you need to repeat it and with what intensity. At the same time, you will be able to see options for performing exercises depending on your preparation and choose the optimal one for yourself. In such lessons, possible errors during execution are usually discussed. Therefore, you can control yourself and do the exercises correctly.