Dynamic Stretching

Dynamic stretches For sports that involve sprinting and changes of direction, the general warm-up prior to dynamic stretching should include jogging as well as short sprints and multi-directional running (such as sideways and backwards). Dynamic stretching is good for 'waking muscles up' to get them ready to work hard. This involves moving your limbs through the full range of motion that they will be used in during the game or training. Gradually increase the range of the movement over a series of repetitions.

Do not force movements or lose control of the movement. Repeat the following examples about 12 times - you may need to do more or less than this number depending on how tight your muscles feel. This period should take about 3-5 minutes.

Dynamic Stretches

Leg swings forward and back (Gluteals, hamstrings, hip flexors) * Hold on to a solid object and balance on one leg * Swing the other leg forwards to a comfortable height ensuring that your trunk and lower back stay rigid and do not bend. * Then swing the leg back, again ensuring that there is minimal movement in the back. * Change legs and repeat. * Swing to a height that suits your flexibility. * Forcing the leg high by swinging too hard may result in injury.

Leg swings side to side (Hamstrings, adductors) * Hold on to a solid object and balance on one leg. * Turn your foot on the leg you are balancing on outwards. * Swing that leg away from the body turning the foot to point at the sky. * Then swing the leg across the body pointing the toes in the direction your leg is moving. * Check that you are minimizing the amount of movement through your lower back.

Hurdle step overs (Gluteals, adductors) * Hold on to a solid object and stand with one leg slightly further back than the other. * Lift the back leg knee high and then rotate leg outwards and step down. Then reverse the movement by rotating the leg outwards then taking the knee night to the front. * Return to the start position. Check that you are minimizing truck movement. Alternate legs and repeat

Lower leg calf raises (Calves) (soleus and gastrocnemius) * Start with your body in a push-up position, with your feet side by side. * Support your weight with your hands and feet. * Start stretching your calves by pushing one heel towards the ground then onto the ball of the foot and then back again. * Alternate between legs.

Upper body trunk rotation (Trunk muscles - abdominals, back and chest) * Stand with the back straight and knees slightly bent. * Start swinging your body at waist height - you should feel this mostly in your lower back. * Move your arms higher to around shoulder height to feel a stretch through the middle back. * Now raise your arms to above your head to feel the stretch higher in the back. * If you find any tight areas do extra repetitions without forcing the movement. * In this exercise you should concentrate more on gradually increasing the range of movement rather than the speed of movement.

Bent over upper body rotation (Trunk muscles - abdominals, back and chest, adductors, hamstrings) * Bend at the hips so that your lower back still keeps its natural inward curve - you might need to bend your knees a little. * Rotate the trunk and arms to reach towards the opposite toe while bending that leg. * Alternate sides. * Reach as low as your flexibility allows - its not necessary to touch the toes if you can't reach that low.

Arm circles (Muscles around the shoulder) * Stand with the back straight and knees slightly bent. * Swing both your arms around in circles starting with small circles progressing towards larger ones. * Circles should be done both forwards and backwards. * If you find tightness in an area, spend more time working on that area to loosen it up

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How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth!

When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not the first thing that pops into your head. But did you know that stretching plays a critical role in building muscle?

Every muscle in your body is enclosed in a bag of tough connective tissue known as fascia. Fascia is important for holding your muscles in their proper place in your body.

But your fascia may also be holding back your muscle growth. Think for a moment about your muscles. You train them and feed them properly. They want to grow and will grow but something is holding them back. They have no room to grow!

Because fascia is so tough, it doesnt allow the muscle room to expand. It is like stuffing a large pillow into a small pillowcase. The size of the muscle wont change regardless of how hard you train or how well you eat because the connective tissue around your muscles is constricting the muscles within.

The best example of this is the calf muscle. The lower leg is riddled with fascia because of its tremendous weight-bearing duties in the body. It is because of this fascia that many trainers have great difficulty developing their calves.

The solution: stretching.

Using the pillowcase example from above, imagine you can expand the size of the pillowcase by stretching it. Suddenly, the pillow within has more room and will expand to fill that new space.

By stretching your muscles under specific conditions, you can actually stretch your fascia and give your muscles more room to grow.

The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. The best time to stretch to expand the bags that are holding in your muscles is when your muscles are pumped up full of blood.

When your muscles are fully pumped up, they are pressing against the fascia. By stretching hard at that time, you increase that pressure on the fascia greatly, which can lead to expansion of the fascia.

One of the major reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger had such incredible chest development was that he finished his chest workouts with dumbell flyes, an exercise that emphasizes the stretched position of the pectoral muscles. He would pump his chest up full of blood during the workout then do flyes, holding the stretch at the bottom of the flye. This gave his chest room to grow to amazing proportions.

Fascial stretching is more rigorous than regular stretching but the results can be amazing. When you stretch hard enough to cause the fascia to expand, you will really feel it! When you are stretching the fascia, you should feel a powerful pulling sensation and pressure as the muscle works against the fascia to expand it.

Be sure you do not stretch so hard that you cause the muscle to tear or cause injury to yourself. You will rapidly learn to distinguish the difference between a good stretch and a bad stretch. You should not feel any sharp pain, just a steady pull.

Hold each stretch for at least 20 to 30 seconds as you must give your fascia time to be affected by the stretch. Stretch hard like this only when you have a fully pumped muscle as you must give your fascia a reason to expand. If your muscles arent pumped, just stretch normally.

You can find instructions for stretching at:

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Stretching1.htm

One set of hard stretching after each set you do for a muscle group, besides the obvious benefits of increased flexibility, can have an incredible effect on the size of your muscles and their further ability to grow.

Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at http://www.thebestexercises.com or visit http://www.fitstep.com. You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.K#