Stretching and preparing your muscles on a daily basis will help you prevent injuries and muscle stiffness.

Working on flexibility helps us control and coordinate our movements better, prevent muscle stiffness, relieve muscle tension and muscle aches, prevent injuries and improve our postural balance.

Stretching is the most common method for working on flexibility. In addition to doing them before and after each workout, adopting a daily stretching routine will also be good. You will only need five to ten minutes.

Stretching plan

Stretching in the morning is a good way to prepare your muscles to get ready for the day: they loosen up your body and increase blood flow to your muscles. We suggest a set of seven exercises.

BACK EXTENSION
Lie on your front with your hands on the floor and your arms bent. Your back and hips should be relaxed. Slowly lift your upper body, arching your back. Relax your back and hips. Slowly lift your upper body.Hold this position for two seconds and relax. Repeat ten times.

LUMBAR FLEXION
	Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Pull your knees to your chest. You can put your hands under your thighs to help you lift your knees. Press your lower back against the floor. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Repeat twice.

NECK ROLL
Sit with your feet on the floor. Roll your neck in a circle, trying to touch your ears to your shoulders. First roll clockwise five times.Then do it another five times in the opposite direction.

SHOULDER SHRUG
	Sit with your feet on the floor. Raise your shoulders. Try to reach your ears. Repeat ten more times.

SHOULDER STRETCH
While standing, interlace your fingers and raise your hands above your head. With your palms facing up, raise yourself up stretching your rib cage while you count to ten. Repeat five times.

STANDING LUMBAR FLEXION
	Standing up straight, bend over and touch your toes keeping your knees straight. Hold this position while you count to ten. Repeat five times. After bending over towards the front, do it towards the back.

QUADRICEPS MUSCLES ON THE FRONT OF YOUR THIGHS
Stand up. Hold on to something stable. Bend your knee up and hold your ankle with one hand. Keep your knee up for 15 seconds.Repeat three times.

When you do each stretching exercise, you should feel a little tension without bouncing. If you feel any discomfort, stop and check with your doctor to make sure you don’t have an injury or another problem.

Sources:

• Health and Fitness Journal (American College of Sports Medicine)
• Harvard Medical School

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