Let's Get Flexible!

You eat healthy foods, drink healthy drinks (water!), and exercise regularly, including plenty of weight training and some cardio. 💪

Congrats! You’re fit, strong and healthy!

There is only one missing element in your overall great routine:

You’re as flexible as a piece of plywood. 😂

The stiffness, limited range of motion and your fears of injury are a result of this inflexibility.

But there’s good news! You don’t have to stay inflexible your entire life. With the right steps, you can improve your flexibility, which will make life that much better.

Ready to get started building a more flexible you?

Here’s how:

✅ Rolling and Movement Preparation

For many years, it was common practice to stretch before working out. In recent years, folks have ditched that advice for something better: lightly performing whatever you plan to do. Going to run? Walk and then jog before getting into a run. Lifting weights? Perform mobility movements (like we do in our classes!) to gently prepare your body for the weight training exercises you'll be doing.

For those who want to maximize their mobility, use a foam roller.🤩

With a foam roller, you work to gently warm up and prepare your body before working out. Like a massage for your muscles, foam rolling helps your muscles with increased circulation and mobilization. This allows your muscles to be worked out afterward and prevents an already tight muscle from growing tighter through your exercise routine. Once you do a little foam rolling, then do your light activity before going full force.

✅ Go Full Range of Motion

As you exercise, you can help your flexibility by working throughout your entire range of motion when resistance training.

To get to where you can squat or perform other exercises as deep as your body allows, you will probably want to reduce the amount of weight you use. As your body grows accustomed to going through a fuller range of motion, you can increase the weight and enjoy improved flexibility as well as strength.

✅ Stretch After

After a workout, your muscles are tight and want to stay that way. Folks who are new to working out often enjoy the feeling. It lets them know their body has worked hard, and so they allow the tightness to remain as they leave the gym and return to their daily routines.

However, this is the optimal time for stretching. By taking 5-10 minutes for slow stretches, you can take a huge step toward your overall flexibility. A good post-workout stretch will focus on the areas worked during your routine, but will also provide some stretching for the entire body. You can also finish your stretching with more foam rolling if you have time, as this will help further your flexibility and recovery.

✅ Take It Slow

When stretching for increased flexibility, you may be tempted to push it as far as you can. Don't do it! Instead, breathe and relax and take the slow and gentle path to flexibility. Aggressive stretching will actually have the opposite result that you want, as your body will have to repair itself from small tears and won’t want to stretch further in the future. Instead, take your time and allow your body to ease into stretches.

Feel an uncomfortable burning sensation when stretching? Back off and stretch to the point of comfortable stretch, about a 7 on a scale of 1-10. You can’t increase your flexibility overnight, so focus on a regular routine of post-workout gentle stretching instead of the occasional aggressive and potentially injurious stretching.

Call or email me today to discuss your goals and needs.

I'll help you with a CUSTOM PROGRAM of nutrition and fitness plus a plan to increase your flexibility, reduce your body fat, and increase your energy levels.

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