Stretching has always been one of the most effortless exercises. Not only does it not take much exertion on our part, it tends to feel great and help us in a number of different ways. There are a lot of different ways that you can get your stretching exercises in but one of the most effective is known as isometric stretching. If you warm up stretches properly, you will improve the range of movement, increase your fitness levels and keep yourself free of injury.
A typical stretch is done whenever you simply stretch one of the limbs of your body to the full range of motion. An isometric stretch is done whenever you have resistance placed against your body part, such as somebody pressing against the muscle in order to increase the amount of stretch that you are getting. This will increase the effectiveness of your stretch but it should be used with caution. You do not want to over stretch the muscle.
Adding resistance to your stretch will speed up your health benefits. A good example is if you are stretching out your calf, you could use a towel on the bottom of your foot in order to increase the stretch. After about 10 seconds of stretching, push against the resistance with all of your might for two to three seconds. Relax your body totally for one second and then continue into the stretch. You would probably be surprised with how much more of a range of movement you will achieve because of this exercise. You may want to obtain a set of resistance bands to add to your stretching workout, they are inexpensive and easy to store.
If you want to see the benefits that you will receive from stretching on a regular basis, look at a gymnast in action. They are flexible and physically fit from all of the stretching that they do. Even though they do get cardiovascular exercise, stretching helps to make their muscles long, lean and limber. You can achieve very much the same results by stretching on a daily basis. Just make sure that you are mixing up your stretching routine so that you do not overstretch any of your muscles at one time.
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