So we’re currently living in an age where our movement is being restricted at government level. We’re allowed to make necessary trips for medication, food supplies or to exercise daily. Aside that we’re advised to stay right where we are, at home, on the couch.
With this being the case there has been a dramatic rise in the participation of Marathons. I don’t mean running 26.2 miles for your chosen NHS charity or foundation dressed as a breast or dinosaur, I mean watching all 7 Harry Potter films back to back with no rest, or watching every documented episode of blue planet to give your mental aptitude a challenge, though Attenborough does make some very interesting points.
I want to talk about flexibility, and it’s seemingly higher importance right now. Flexibility is a health related attribute when we look at the entire fitness model as a whole but as we’ve constantly said before, it’s overlooked time and time again. The better your flexibility the easier your body will move within a given range of motion. Flexibility can be an maintenance, or a progressive exercise in its self. I would recommend everyone who has been shunned to home working or even been furloughed or laid off take part in a stretch program to maintain what little flexibility you may have and progress that so when you’re able to return to training your body finds it easier to adapt.
Sitting for extended periods of time for me is hard work, unless it’s on a bike and my legs are going round on the pedals, but if I worked in an office, or behind the controls of a vehicle I would get good at sitting. As a result my posture and muscles would have to make sacrifices to do this. The muscles of the chest tighten up, and the muscles of the back relax resulting in a hunch back upper posture. Further to this, my hamstrings would shorten and tighten up which could inflict pain in the knees, hips and lower back, if you’re really lucky all three. A regular stretch routine can be all it takes to keep your muscles in good condition, and healthy and allow you to move and feel better. Being flexible is good for circulation too. Good circulation in its self has so many other benefits but that’s a whole different reading matter.
If you go into our private clients group on facebook we have a stretch routine you can do 2 /3 times a week.