I am four days into my “getting healthy” journey. I woke up today and had a lot of trouble getting out of bed to go downstairs and work out. I fully expected to get up and ignore the PIYO plan. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I was going to do another day of PIYO Sweat.
NOPE!
My body was aching. I am assuming this is why they put a rest day in the day 4 position.
So instead of completely resting I took the opportunity to do a really thorough stretching. I expected to stretch for 15 minutes, but as soon as I tried to bend at the waist, so that I could stretch my hamstrings, I decided I had to do a little warm up. So my 15 minutes turned into 30. Which of course, caused a snowball effect and I left late for work.
On the upside…the stretching was wonderful.
It is one of the few things I remember about the exercise classes I took at the University of Wisconsin. At the time I wanted to be an exercise physiologist, or run an exercise program for business corporations to help keep their employees healthy. But the stories about my time in Wisconsin will have to be for another time….
Back to what I learned…I learned that posture is very important and proper alignment isn’t quite what you think.
it actually aligns specific parts of the body, and when done correctly is sometimes feels as though you may fall forward.
The other major thing I remember learning was that stretching and flexibility are very important to physical fitness. They are also two areas that many people take for granted and do not give enough time to.
I like to use the Mayo Clinic as a source of information about a variety of health care issues. I found some good information that describes the benefits of stretching, stretching essentials, and when to use caution. You can see this at http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/stretching/art-20047931?pg=1.
Here are some of the main points:
- Benefits
- increase activity and athletic performance
- decrease activity- based injuries
- increase flexibility ad range of motion of the joints
- increases blood flow to the muscles
- stretching essentials
- warm up the muscles before stretching (it is even better to stretch after you have exercised)
- focus on stretching bilaterally, working to make it equal on both sides
- stretch the major muscle groups and muscles you use often: calves, thighs, back, hips, neck and shoulders
- ***hold your stretch, do not bounce
- ***hold the stretch for 30 to 60 seconds with consistent breathing
- feel tension…not pain!
- thorough stretching 2-3 times per week
- tai chi and yoga use the fluid movements that take one stretch to another. this is good
- remember that stretching can actually cause damage if not done with caution.
Basically…don’t forget the importance of stretching and flexibility as part of your journey to getting healthy.
looking forward to PIYO Define Lower body in the morning!
Sweet dreams 😉
Aloha….Loke