The daily ten-minute stretching routine will ensure that your muscles becomes more and more elastic and supple and joints more mobile. The increased suppleness will improve your posture and help prevent stiffness and injury.

Let’s start with the stretching exercises now.

I. Front Of Thighs (Stretching exercise for upper legs)

• Holding onto the wall or a chair, you need to lift your right knee in front of you. Meanwhile soften the knee that is supporting your weight.
• Take hold of your right ankle with your right hand and allow your knee to lower until the thigh is vertical and your knees are side by side, and continue to hold the stretch. This may cause some pain in the beginning and may look like impossibility but will be easy as you regularly practice.
• Repeat on the left.

Note: Make it a point to pull in your abdominal muscles and tilt your pelvis forward as you ease your foot up.

II. Back Stretch (Stretching exercise for the lower spine)

• Get on your hands and knees on the floor, with your hands placed in line with your shoulders, fingers pointing forward and your knees should be hip width apart.
• Pull your abdomen up towards your spine and curve your back. Hold up for up too 10 seconds and then relax your back.

Note: During first step when you take your position, keep your head aligned with your spine and look at the floor. Also tilt your pelvis as you curve your back and lastly try keeping your hands under your shoulder.

III. Back of the Thighs (Stretching exercise for the upper legs)

• Sitting on the edge of a chair, place one foot flat on the floor. Now, extend the other leg in front of you, with your heel on the floor.
• Placing your hands on your thigh, lean forward from the hips and you will feel the stretch in the back of the thigh on the straight leg. Repeat this stretch on other side now.

Note: Keep your spine straight and your shoulder square.

IV. Front of Chest (Stretching Exercise for your chest and shoulders)

Sitting upright on the chair, place your hands on your lower back. Squeeze your elbows towards each other behind you while lifting your chest up and forwards. You will feel the stretch in the chest and front of the shoulders.

V. Calf Stretch (Stretching exercise for the lower legs)

Stand with your feet under your hips. Take a step back with a left leg, placing the foot flat on the floor. Bend your right knee over the toe. Then place your hands on the right thigh for support. Make sure your left foot faces forwards and the leg remains straight. Repeat the same way on the other side.

Note: You will feel the stretch in your calf muscle of the leg that is in front.

VI. Neck Stretch (stretching exercise for the neck and shoulders)

Sit very comfortably on an upright chair. Reach your left hand behind you and grasp the back of the chair seat, right behind your left buttock. Slowly tilt your head towards the right shoulder. You will feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. Repeat the same way on the other side.

Note: This is a very easy and effective stretching exercise. Adopt a balanced and solid sitting position.

VII. Arm Stretch (Stretching exercise for the upper arms and shoulders)

Sitting upright on the chair, imagine you have an itch between your shoulder blades and attempt to reach it with your right hand by lifting your arm above your head and bending the elbow. Use your left hand apply gentle pressure to the upper part of your right arm. Repeat the exercise on other side now.

VIII. Inner Thigh Stretch (Stretching exercise for the upper legs)

Sitting upwards towards the edge of a chair, position your thighs as far as apart as they will comfortably go. Hold on to the inside of the thighs and ease the knees apart from each other further. You will feel the stretch on the groin and on inside of your thighs.

Note: Try keeping your feet flat on the floor.

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It is advised that you should always do a thorough warm-up before starting with stretching exercise. Also, move into each stretch position slowly and gently until you reach a point of mild tension. Breathe out as you start the stretch but breathe normally as you hold it.

Your suppleness changes from one day to next, depending on various factors such as mood, motivation, physical tension, warm-up routine, emotional tension, temperature and muscle fatigue and soreness. So even if you have done a particular stretching movement before, never force it if it seems difficult. Stop at once if you feel any pain.

You can even alternate some of the strength building exercise with these stretches in order to give your muscles time to recover and ease tension that might otherwise build up in the muscles. Please note that all the stretches should be held for approximately 10-15 seconds only.

Lastly, if at any stage you feel any difficulty, it is advisable that you contact your trainer for physical assistance. Till then take care and have a Healthy Body and a Healthy Mind

We last talked about how to achieve a full range of movements without any stiffness, aching or suffering. In other words we discussed about achieving suppleness. Suppleness can be achieved by stretching to far extent.

However, your stretching better be safe. Always avoid forceful stretches. You should understand that you would feel only a comfortable tightness instead of any kind of pain when a muscle is stretched to its limit. You should never go beyond this point. Always take care that you should avoid stretches that puts excessive strain on other parts of the body. For example, deep knee bends, in which the bottom drops below the level of the knees, and touching the toes while keeping the legs straight, can be harmful because they put too much strain on your back and joints. It is always advised to place your hands on your thighs when stretching the muscles at the back of the leg (hamstring) as this would help support the lower back, whether standing or sitting.

Also take care that when you are stretching, you apply only slow and steady pressure and resist the temptation to speed up the stretch by bouncing. This will put more stress on the tendons than the muscles. Muscles are actually armed with a reflex device to protect them from over-extended. This means that every time you move into a stretch, the initial reaction of the muscle is to contract in order to protect itself. So when it is held for a few seconds, the so called initial contraction will disperse and the muscle can then relax into a stretch. It is to be noted that bouncing, which is also known as ballistic stretching repeatedly triggers the reflex action and results in a series of contractions rather than the desired lengthening of the muscle.

Please note that it is important that stretches are attempted by moving the joints only in direction for which they are designed. For example, your knees are hinge joints which can be damaged if attempts are made to rotate or move them laterally. Ligaments, the bands of fibrous tissues that hold the joints in place, can be damaged if the joint is moved in a direction that it is not designed to go.

So take care. Have a healthy mind and healthy body.

What is suppleness?

The ability to achieve a full range of movements “to turn, stretch, twist and bend” without any stiffness, aching or suffering a spine or joint injury is defined as suppleness. It is also known as flexibility.

What about it?

Suppleness or flexibility is an important part of your everyday life. Being supple means that you can reach up to take an item down from a bookshelf, for example, or bend down to tie your shoe laces, without feeling that your movements are restricted in any way. When you are young, you tend to take suppleness for granted. But as and when you start growing older, you need to spend a bit of time enhancing and maintaining your suppleness.

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Muscle-toning exercises won’t turn you into a mean looking body builder. Instead they will ensure that your muscles stay in good shape and can work more efficiently so that you can do everyday tasks for longer.

To avoid developing imbalanced muscles, you need to do a range of muscle-toning exercises. These can be included with the aerobic and other exercise as a part of a general fitness routine. If you are a bit new to exercising, do a few of each muscle toning exercise and slowly build up the number. Always do a warm-up routine before you start and a cool-down at the end to reduce the risk of injury and post exercise aches and pains. To refresh your muscles, march on the spot between exercises to help prevent a build-up of lactic acid.

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Do you really have to pick up huge and heavy weights in order to build your strength? I guess not. Have a look at these alternatives.

1) Dumbbells: Dumbbells are simple to use, safe and very effective. They can be used to provide extra resistance when doing standard exercises, or in exercises designed specifically for dumbbells. Dumbbells can be used singly or in pairs. They may be obtained as fixed sizes, available in a range of weights, or adjustable types to which extra weights can be added.

2) Barbell: A barbells consists of a bar to which weights are attached at the either ends. Barbells are very effective because they strengthen the support muscles, which help maintain posture and stability, as well as the main muscle groups. However their use requires a good instructions and proper training from an experienced fitness instructor.

3) Elastic Training Band: You can use elastic training bands in many different ways. For example, while sitting on a chair, loop a band around one of your foot and hold the two ends by your hip. Straightening that leg against the resistance of the band strengthens the muscles in front of your thigh. Similarly for the upper body, take the band in your hands, either in front of your chest or behind your back, and stretch it to strengthen arms and shoulders.

4)Ankle and Wrist Weights: These weights can be tied on your ankles or wrists. Ankle and Wrist weights will increase the amount of resistance involved when doing standard strength exercises such as push ups and heel raising exercises.

5) Gymnasium Machines: Resistance machines are easy to use and a bit simple to adjust especially when you want to increase the effort involved. Most of the machines target individual muscles or perhaps a group of muscles, so you have to take care not to overwork these areas of the body or you can end up getting imbalanced muscles. There are multi-purpose gyms available though. They include a range of different machines that can be worked through systematically. These useful devices are designed to improve all-round muscle strength and endurance.

You do not have to join a gym or go to the pool regularly to develop and maintain good muscle tone. Effective training can be done in the comfort of your own home using your body weight as resistance, particularly in exercise such as push-ups and abdominal curls. Other method includes the use of some elastic exercise bands or weights for hands, wrists and ankle, which all are easily available in the market.

Apart from deliberate, specific exercises, the best way to ensure your muscles remain strong and with good endurance capacity is to use them on a regular basis. Performing tasks all by you, rather than the labor saving gadgets, or other people, is the best guarantee of muscle tone.

Try new activities, such as ice skating or ballroom dancing, so as to exercise more muscles. Every single time you use a muscle in a different way, you help your body remain healthy and strong.

Ideally, activities to improve strength and endurance should increase the muscles normal workload moderately. First increase the number of repetitions you do, and then up the weight; raise both steadily rather than attempt big increase too soon.

Also Take Care that when doing resistance exercises, don’t hold your breath or keep still for more than few seconds. That will only raise your blood pressure and we don’t want that. Instead, steadily breathe out when exerting maximum effort and breathe in as you relax the effort. It is advised that if you have a high blood pressure, it is necessary to consult a doctor before you start resistance exercises. Take Care

By running just 5 miles (8 km) in the whole week, you can reduce the risk of yourself getting a heart disease (which is supposed to be the number one killer in the western world) by nearly 20 percent. You already know the advantages of running. It can also help you lose weight, strengthen your muscles and bones and even slow down the aging process which means you will look and feel young all the time. Besides all other advantages, running also benefits your skin and hair. Above all, it will make you feel great.

Always aim to alternate resistance exercises with aerobic or the stamina building exercises. This will give your muscle a chance to recover from the build of the lactic acid in your body, which is a common side effect of high intensity activities such as weight lifting or sprinting. In these anaerobic activities, oxygen cannot be delivered to the muscles in time to assist with the breakdown of glycogen (the form in which glucose is stored as energy in muscles). If there is no presence of oxygen, then these glycogens breakdown produces lactic acid. It is build of this lactic acid in the muscles that causes a burning sensation in your body after you do an intense activity.

The pain eventually builds up to the point where you must rest. As soon as you stop, muscles start to use oxygen to break down the lactic acid. The more lactic acid that is built up, the more the oxygen required to break it down. This is called the oxygen debt’ and this why you pant for breath after sprinting. By alternating aerobic exercises with resistance activities you enable the muscles to disperse the lactic acid rather than accumulating it. You will then not have to stop doing strength exercises prematurely because if either fatigue or a muscle pain.

You can also train yourself to improve your recovery rate by timing each stop to allow yourself just enough time to breathe evenly and deeply before repeating the exercise. With practice this will enable you and your body to recover faster and therefore improving your stamina.

Many stamina building exercises, such using treadmills or jogging, improves the strength and endurance for only those muscles which are involved in the activity. If you thoroughly concentrate on such type of exercises only, in that case you run the risk of developing an imbalanced physique. Imagine, having powerful leg muscles and buttock muscles but at the same time having weak shoulders, chest and arms. To prevent this imbalance, make sure that exercise routines includes resistance exercises for the upper body. Alternatively, you can use stamina building equipments such as rowing or skiing machines that exercise the upper and lower body at the same time, thus providing you a balance physique.

Most of the muscles work in pairs. To create movement in one direction, let’s say like when we pick up a glass of water, one muscle in the arm will contract while the other relaxes. On the other hand, while putting the glass down, when we provide movement in an opposite direction, the muscle actions reverse. Unless both muscles of the pair are exercised evenly, imbalances can occur that can actually reduce the efficiency of the joints and increase the risk of injury. This is one of the major cause for the posture problems, leading to the problems such as persistent neck pain and backache.

You should vary the types of exercise you do so that all the muscles of the body are improved “or conditioned” evenly without actually concentrating on any particular muscle group.

Certain muscles have important roles as fixating, or stabilizing muscles. This means that there main task is to maintain the body’s position or posture while the other muscles are involved in actual physical work, such as lifting, pulling or pushing. Varying your exercises and activities will ensure that these muscles get a proper required workout, too. Strong abdominal muscles, for example, are particularly important when lifting heavy loads. They give extra protection and support to the back and help to prevent a hernia which is a condition where the intestine protrudes through a weak area of muscle.

Always keep in mind that you should never do strength exercises when you are tired. In that case, you greatly increase the risk of injury if, because of physical or mental fatigue, you are not in total control during an exercise or you are not concentrating on doing the exercise correctly. Also remember that exercise is not to be taken lightly or jokingly. Poor exercise techniques is likely to put excessive strain on muscles, joints and connective tissues that are yet not prepared or strong enough to cope with it.

Building strength involves working your muscles against some degree of resistance, such as lifting a weight. But it isn’t just sufficient to lift a weight only once, instead, you need to work the muscles to their maximum capacity, and this does mean performing each movement several times, or in other words, repetitions. This is known as challenging the muscles. By raising the weight or the number of repetition, you actually increase the challenge.

Weight lifting isn’t the only form of resistance training. In fact, every time you sit down or stand up, you work by carrying your body weight against gravity. Other examples include tensile resistance, such as the pull you feel walking in an ocean or in a deep mud.

Water offers considerable resistance and swimming is an ideal form of strength exercise as well as improving stamina.

Although muscles grow larger in response to strength training, it doesn’t mean that you will gain a body builder’s physique, which in fact takes many hours of specialized training and dedicated effort. You will however, be helping yourself to a fitter, stronger body with firmer muscles and less body fat.