Giles Wiley – 5-Minute Flexibility Stretches to Prep Your Body

Course Description

Giles Wiley – 5-Minute Flexibility Stretches to Prep Your Body

Giles Wiley – 5-Minute Flexibility Stretches to Prep Your Body

It is no secret that stretching can help release muscle tightness, improve joint range of motion and reduce the risk of exercise related injuries.

Andrea Fradkin, an assistant professor of exercise science at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, stated that individuals who participate in a regular stretching routine are nine times less likely to be injured during exercise than those who do not.

So What is Dynamic Stretching or Warm-up

Movement prep also known as dynamic warm-up was popularized by Mark Verstegen the founder of Athlete Performance and EXOS and became a mainstream practice even for regular exercisers.

Dynamic stretching involves active movement of the muscles that cause them to stretch, but is not held in one position.

Researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory in Japan performed studies to determine how effective dynamic stretching was on performance in comparison to no stretching.

They determined that individuals who performed a series of dynamic stretches before performing heavy exercise, such as leg extensions, showed a significant increase in performance than those who performed no stretches.

Because movement prep increases performance, it is best performed before a workout.

Also compared to other types of stretches.

Dynamic stretching has shown to warm up the muscles more effectively and better suited to prepare your body for any type of physical activity.

Other benefits of dynamic stretches include:

• Activate Core
• Improve Range of Motion
• Improve Body Awareness
• Increases oxygen and blood flow throughout the body more efficiently
• Improve performance

It is important to have good flexibility. It not only decreases your risk of injuries, it promotes healthy muscles and joints.

Good range of motion in your joints that comes from your flexibility can enhance your workout quality and your ability to participate in more sports with greater ease.

Wider range of motions also has positive effect on your daily life as it makes your daily physical movements such as  bending, running, turning, and lifting much easier to perform.

Stretch Exercises Included:

1. Leg Cradle: 10 second hold each side
2. Standing Quad Stretch: 15 second hold per side
3. Inverted Hamstring: 8 to 10 repetitions per side
4. Lunge with Rotation: 10 repetitions per side
5. Squat: 10-12 repetitions

Take 5 minutes before your workout to prepare your body for exercise and reduce your risk of exercise related injuries.