Stretching

What is stretching ?

Stretching exercises will help you become more flexible, you recover faster after exercise and to prevent injury. They will make you a complete fitness program.

Benefits of stretching
- The muscles become more elastic and develop better.
- Prevents injuries and contusions when executed properly.
- Faster muscle recovery after exercise.
- Reduces stress on joints and muscles.
- Increases muscle growth and helps them.
- Increases flexibility, balance and coordination.
- Helps eliminate toxins and waste substances from the muscle.

Flexibility is an individual quality, which depends on several factors:

- Age - compared to adults, young people are more flexible.
- Gender - women are more flexible than men.
- Fitness level - people who actively exercise are more flexible than people who do not train.
- Temperature - when muscles are warmed are more flexible.

You can check their flexibility as you try from an upright position to touch the floor with your fingers. If you fail do not worry if you include stretching in your workout a few weeks to fix things.

TYPES OF STRETCHING 

- Passive - the safest type of stretching in which no hurry perform the exercise, hold 20 seconds and with smooth movements return to the starting position.
 
- Active - stretching is performed without detention, rhythmically shorten and stretchto a maximum.
 
- Ballistic - like passive, but springing that requires attention because of the possibility of excessive strain and injuries.

Tips for safe stretching

 - Always warm-up before stretching, so as not to hurt yourself.
- Do not hold your breath while stretching. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
- Do not rush. Best performances stretching will be more effective.
- Do not compare yourself with others. Everyone has a different level of flexibility.The comparison may result in injuries.
- If you feel pain while doing stretching, stop. Everything must be within tolerable.
- Avoid ballistic stretching, because it does not control the stretch and possibly hurt yourself.

How often do stretching ?
 
The more often you do stretching, the faster you will become flexible. The minimumis to do stretching after every workout, which means 3-4 times a week.
 
Stretching exercises take 10-15 minutes. Hold each stretch 20 seconds, repeat 1 or 2 times.

Stretch slowly until you feel a slight tension in the muscles, but not pain. If you feel the pain you've stretched too much.
 
There are two ways of doing stretching exercises. One is to stretch after each series of exercises, the other - after all the training. The key is to have warmed up your muscles to stretch.

Technique of stretching
Forget springy movements, they have a greater likelihood of trauma. Prefer slowly and gently stretch until you feel mild tension. Breathe calmly and in rhythm. Hold the stretch for about 20 seconds, then gently return to the starting position.

As we mentioned earlier, the best time to stretch is after your muscles are warmed up to stretch. After exercise or between sets of exercise. If you do stretching before workout should include only light exercise, otherwise you can hurt yourself uncomfortable.

In conclusion, we recommend that you not neglect stretching exercises and make them part of your fitness program.

Water yoga

Water yoga is one of the newest forms of yoga. Practicing with her in the pool. Aquatic environment makes it easier to perform the asanas. The duration of the posture in certain posture is also time-consuming, due to the hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy. 

Muscles and joints are strengthened and improved the metabolic processes in the body.
 
This type of yoga helps in arthritis, multiple sclerosis, obesity, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, etc.

Compared with other types of practicing water yoga is much more friendly and gentle to the body, which makes it suitable for pregnant women and people from third.

The water temperature and the time spent in it are important. When administered postures for plasticity, flexibility, stretching, meditation and breathing techniques, the temperature may be from 30-35 degrees, and the length should not be more than 45 minutes.

Water is a good conductor of energy and filled with positive and new energy, which improves the emotional and health condition of the body.

MMA flexibility, strength and endurance with UCMMA champion Oli Thompson (Video)

Conditioning workout that will offer you today is a curious mixture of more or lessknown practice imitating animal movements for stretching and flexibility, which at first glance seem a little odd but surprisingly effective and require no equipmentother than your own body.

The most powerful man in Britain (Britain's Strongest Man) 2006 Ollie Thompson,who after retraining in MMA fighter in the heavyweight asset has 10 wins and 5 losses, rising UCMMA champion in 2011 before saving short and inglorious part in the UFC (2 losses in his career, in 2012).


Here's how it all looks on video, shown by Villa, Thompson and editor Men `s Fitness Nick Hatchings:

The best exercises at home

No need to be a member of a fitness club to train fully.
You can burn calories and strengthen muscles without expensive coaches. Exercise at home with a fitness plan that does not require expensive equipment. Put on a pair of sneakers and find a little space to make a workout for the whole body.

 Calisthenics
To prepare a complete fitness workout plan that focuses on strength training, aerobics and flexibility. Add calisthenics exercises as part of training for strength. This includes jumps, lifting the lever, push-ups and bending. Such movements require little space and minimal equipment. In addition to building muscle mass, exercise to calisthenics increased and heart rate.
 Exercises for the main part of the body
Exercises for the main part of the body does not require equipment, you can even perform most of them barefoot. These activities power training improves posture, balance and stability, and give tone the abdominal muscles. Do exercises that train several of the 29 muscles of the main part of your body as a plank, crunches, glutes bridge.
 Jogging
If you have a treadmill or cross trainer, jogging is a great way to make your workout for the lower body while you raise your heart rate and burn a significant number of calories.
 Jumping Rope
Jumping rope is an exercise considerable effects that really shaped calves. Also works for the biceps with small circular movements. With or without jump rope, this is the perfect exercise if you have a small space. Face the challenge burn more calories with double skipping rope, jump twice as high and turn the rope twice for every jump.
 Weight lifting
According to the "American Council on Exercise" lifting barbells and dumbbells can provide you with the most effective way to gain power. Dumbbells are inexpensive and easily stored, you can work with them at home as well as in the gym. Start with basic movements such as rolling, paddling, side lift, presses and flaiys. Strength training with weights twice a week non-consecutive days.