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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