If you’re feeling stiff after working out and you want to be more flexible and have a greater range of movement, you’re not alone. These are problems that lots of people face at one time or another, but there are things you can do about it and ways to increase your flexibility and movement.
We’re going to talk about some of the steps you should think about making today. Each of them will help you to work on your flexibility and ensure you have a wider range of movement in the future. Read on now to find out more about all this.
Dynamic warm-ups
Warming up is vital for a variety of reasons, such as preventing injuries. But it’s also important when it comes to maintaining your flexibility and making sure that your range of movement remains strong for a long time to come. Dynamic warm-ups are generally seen as the way to go nowadays, so be sure to give these a go. Pull-ups, jumping jacks and other such actions can be done as part of a dynamic warm-up. They’re a little more intense than a static stretching warm-up.
Post-exercise static stretches
Stretches don’t have to be ignored completely though. There’s an increasing consensus that the best time to stretch when it comes to increasing your flexibility and range of movements is after being active. Static stretches help to lengthen the muscles, which is important because they tighten up when you’re working out and exercising them. So every time you’re done with exercise, take some time to stretch the muscles that had the most intensive workout. It’ll help them a lot going forward.
Try out yoga
Yoga is something that you should definitely take the time to try out if you haven’t done so already. It’s all about holding positions and being in the moment. There are mental as well as physical benefits that come with this. So you should definitely give it a try if you haven’t done so already. It can be great for your joints and is the perfect way to force yourself to increase your range of movement and to get into the habit of doing so regularly.
Stay hydrated for muscle flexibility
Hydration is key and it’s something that you can never afford to ignore when you’re working out. It can also have specific implications for your muscles and their flexibility too though. If you want to keep your muscles as flexible as they can possibly be, it’s probably a good idea to focus on hydration. Your muscles are made up of many things, and one of the key ingredients is water. If there’s not enough of it, your flexibility and range of movement will suffer.
See an osteopath
If you haven’t done so already, it might be a good idea to see a professional osteopath. They’re joint specialists and they’ll be able to help you directly and with advice regarding issues to do with your joints and keeping them as mobile as possible. When people talk about wanting to improve their range of movements, what they really mean is that they want to improve the health of their joints. The right osteopath will be able to help you with that.
Avoid stress and the tightening it causes
Stress is something else that can impact your muscles and their flexibility. When you’re stressed out, it’s not just a mental process. Yes, a large part of it happens in the brain, but there are physical consequences as well. Your blood pressure will increase, for example. And another thing that will happen is your muscles will more than likely start to tighten. And that’s not good for them or your flexibility in the short or long-term.
Receive regular massages
Finally, you should think about making massages a regular part of your workout schedule. When you’ve been working out a lot and pushing your muscles to the limit, they need some sort of rest and relief. And massages offer the perfect way of providing that. They can help you work through muscular issues and prevent tightening. And that’s obviously good for your flexibility and how easy you find it to move around.
As you can see, there are lots of things you can begin to do if you want to improve your body’s flexibility and your general range of movement. It’s definitely worth making these changes now rather than leaving it until later. As you get older, you’ll definitely appreciate those flexibility and movements benefits more and more.
It’s important that we exercise on a regular basis for not only our physical health but mental health also. In terms of flexibility, it gives you a bit of a high when you notice overtime that you become more and more flexible. It gives you a sense of achievement.
Flexibility is incredibly important. I’ll look into some of these ideas; dynamic warm-ups are completely new to me.
I am really not flexible!