Never underestimate the power of the cool-down stretches at the end of your workout. One should spend at least five minutes cooling down after every workout. The stretches will keep you limber and prevent tightness, helping you avoid injury.
Stretching improves circulation by increasing blood flow to your muscles. Better circulation helps the body recover faster by removing waste by products in muscle tissue.
Stretching also helps calm the mind and reduce stress levels. When you're anxious, worried, or worn out, it places extra strain on the body, causing you to feel stressed. By taking a few minutes each day to unwind you will experience a sense of relief and stress will slowly fade away.
Here are a few simple ones to try out:
For your hamstrings
· Stand and take a very short step forward with your left leg.
· Keeping your left leg straight and staying as upright as possible, bend your rear right leg until you can feel a stretch through the back of your front leg.
· Rest your hands on your bent leg and hold the stretch for 20 seconds before swapping.
For your quads
· Stand and bring your left knee upward, in front of you, take hold of your shoelaces and pull your foot back until your heel is touching your bottom.
· Make sure that your standing leg is slightly bent, bring your knees together and ease your hips forwards.
· Hold for 20 seconds and then swap legs.
For the chest
Standing straight, interlace fingers behind your back as you straighten out your arms and lift chin to ceiling.
For the Triceps/shoulders
· Take one arm overhead, bend at elbow joint, and extend palm down centre of your back, gently pulling elbow with opposite hand.
· Take same arm across the chest, gently pulling at the elbow joint, to extend through the shoulder. Switch arms.
For the Core/back
· On all fours, arch your back making a C-shape with your spine, then relax.
· Repeat three times.
· Then sit back between your heels, forehead on the mat, arms extended in front of you, as you lengthen your back.
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