Effective warm up, cool down, & Stretches

Joint mobility and flexibility are some of the most under-rated aspects of health, fitness and well-being. It's interesting how much we take this for granted, until an injury or the onset of a restrictive condition like arthritis sets in.

Only then do we learn to really appreciate the freedom and mobility that healthy joints and muscles offer.

 

When subjected to long periods of inactivity, your muscles are not needed, and so weaken and shorten. Shorter muscles mean less flexibility, less flexibility means restricted mobility-if you see an elderly person shuffling along the street, this is because of shortened weakened hamstrings (found on the back of the upper leg).

Effective and common types of stretch are:

Dynamic stretching-
Rhythmical repetitive movements take the joint and its associated muscles through to a full or near full stretch.

Static stretching
The most popular type of stretching, this involves holding the muscle at full stretch to encourage lengthening and re-alignment. It also conditions the connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) and sustains full range of movement in the joint.

 

These stretches are only effective when the muscles are warmed up, so take a 5 min walk,cycle or do some dynamic stretching first.