Mobility and Flexibility (BEND)
Move Lesson Two - Mobility and Flexibility
Mobility is important for making sure your body moves through full range of motion, reduces injury risk, reduced restriction and pain, relaxation and recovery of your muscles.
The body must have adequate range of motion to be able to complete an exercise. If you are stiff and tight, you are more likely to compensate when doing your exercises, which will increase your chances of injury and decrease the effectiveness of your exercises.
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
Dynamic stretching involves moving a joint through its full range of motion, stretching the tissues involved to prepare them for movement or for recovery. Dynamic stretches are great to do pre-workout to lubricate the joints, fire up the central nervous system and loosen up your muscles. This is also a great way to start your morning to warm up.
STATIC STRETCHING
Static stretching involves taking a joint to its full range of motion and allowing it to open and stretch the tissue. This is great post workout to relax, however, shouldn't be done pre-workout as it doesn't prime the muscles for activity.
FOAM ROLLING
Foam rolling is a brilliant tool for working through "knots" or myofascial trigger points that form due to over or under-use, and dysfunctional movement patterns. The technique is very simple, applying pressure from a foam roller or ball to muscles that have tight or restricted muscle fibers. It is important to recognize whether a tissue is tight because it is contracted and overused, which means that it will need to be released or tight because it is weak and elongated, in which case the muscles on the opposing side will need to be released.
There are warm up and cool down sequences and a full body Bend session each week in your Program
RECOVERY
I also highly recommend adding in other forms of recovery into your week. This will help your body regenerate, and return to a "rest and digest" (parasympathetic) state which is important for cellular renewal, digestion and muscle repair. Some techniques you can try include:
Epsom Salt Baths
Sauna
Light Swimming
Deep Breathing
Yoga
Massage