How many times, being late for the training, you ignored the warm-up, how often did you ignore the coach’s advice to stretch well at the end of the session? So do many beginners, if not all … before you did not know what useful stretching for women.
Stretching – a complex of exercises aimed at developing flexibility. A few years ago it was allocated to a separate fitness discipline and was named “stretching”: from English stretching – lengthening, stretching, stretching.
The benefits of stretching for women
Stretching is necessary for everyone, regardless of sports training, purpose, age or gender. Flexibility exercises are important to start and end any strength and cardio workouts. But women should pay special attention to stretching. And there are good reasons for this!
- Resistance to injury
Stiff muscles are easy to injure. And given that after 30 years the muscle fibers become less elastic, the risk of injury increases every year. And it’s not just about working out at the gym. Every awkward move in the ice, sledding with a child or trying to control the roller skates can result in tearing or stretching ligaments. But for girls who included stretching in their training program, all these situations are absolutely not afraid of: their muscles are relaxed and ligaments are elastic.
The right and left sides of the body in all people have different flexibility. And the range of motion is wider when a person is in a good mood.
- Effective training
The higher the flexibility, the wider the range of motion. The wider the amplitude, the more effective each approach. If you don’t ignore stretching, your strength indicators will only grow from one workout to the next. And because stretching improves the flow of blood and oxygen to the muscles, they will be supplied with nutrients better. A girl will feel the effect as the absence of crepatica even after a very active training and the rapid recovery of the body.
- Excellent posture.
The main benefit of stretching is in the relaxation and simultaneous strengthening of the muscles. It eliminates the feeling of stiffness, your gait becomes easier, your movements are smoother, and keeping your back straight is no longer difficult. Needless to say, that with this comes self-confidence and a love for your own body!
Often the reason for an uneven, stiff gait is the low elasticity of individual joints.
- Flawless menstrual cycle.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like for female athletes to train while menstruating?! It’s simple: according to statistics, only 5% of women who regularly go to the gym suffer from PMS symptoms and experience pain during their periods. The other 95% do not feel any worse during these few days. Stretching in this regard is one of the most useful exercises for the female body. Stretching improves circulation, normalizes the cycle and effectively prevents uterine cramping. With the beginning of regular exercise, the pelvic muscles become more elastic, and the pulling pains gradually go away.
- A slim figure
Typical problem areas for women are the lower abdomen and thighs. But if you strive to twine at least a few minutes every day, after six months you can notice that the cellulite has disappeared, the inner surface of the thighs has tightened, and the waist has become much thinner. There is no magic in it: thanks to stretching the blood supply of the small pelvis organs improves, the work of the intestines is normalized and the elasticity of the skin increases. All metabolic processes are accelerated, the active burning of fat begins. And the reflection in the mirror is already possible to be proud of.
Sometimes the reason for the curvature of the legs – poorly developed ligaments. Performing splits strengthens the adductor muscles, making your legs stronger and more beautiful. And the effect of stretching is visually much more noticeable than the result of strength training.
- Healthy joints
Sedentary lifestyle, injuries, age – all these factors worsen the musculoskeletal system. Some people start to notice stiffness in the lower back after waking up, others suffer from daily tension headaches. Some women complain that their knees ache before every change in the weather, others complain that they can’t bend over without feeling discomfort. Experienced trainers know: all these symptoms are characteristic of people with low flexibility. Their cause: lack of elasticity of the quadriceps, back muscles or ligaments of the iliopsoas. In such situations any ointments, pills and even massages bring only temporary relief. But stretching can solve the problem by eliminating not the symptom, but the cause.
Interestingly, back pain can haunt even girls who spend a lot of time in the gym, but do not pay due attention to stretching exercises.
In this case it is impossible to perform most strength exercises: squats, lunges correctly. The technique is distorted, and at best the training will not strengthen the muscular frame. In the worst case – will provoke even more damage to the ligaments. Therefore, if after training you feel the tension in the lower back, you know: only stretching will help.
- Resistance to stress
Everyday stress undermines women’s health no worse than physical inactivity and poor nutrition. And there is absolutely no strength for a full-fledged exercise in the gym. But do not hurry with chronic fatigue quickly lie down on the couch, better to enroll in a class stretching. Slow rhythm, calm music, and smooth unhurried movements will relax you after the day’s work, relieve muscle cramps, and simply give you pleasure. If you practice regularly, seasonal depressions will be no problem. And very soon there will be strength for a more active workout.
Psychologists know how to determine the inner problems by the movements of the body. But the pattern also works in the opposite direction: it is necessary to remove the muscle clamp, and gradually the psychological barriers disappear.
- Vivid sexual experiences
About these pluses of stretching in whispers will tell you the regulars of fitness clubs after the first training on stretching. In fact, any physical activity increases libido. But exercises to develop flexibility especially stimulate the pelvic muscles, remove clamps and generally increase their own self-esteem. All this affects behavior in bed and guarantees bright, passionate nights.
The benefits of stretching for women at an age
Often you can hear that after 40 years there is no point in stretching, they say, on the splits anyway will not sit down.
– Firstly, this is not true! Flexibility is a very individual parameter, and sometimes absolutely unsportsmanlike in youth people at a mature age achieve impressive results. And, conversely, there are absolutely “wooden” by nature of young girls.
– Secondly, muscle stretching is a natural, designed by nature mechanism of self-regulation (remember with what pleasure we stretch in the morning). Thus our body regulates the activity of systems and organs.
With each passing year muscles become more and more rigid, connective tissue loses its elasticity. That is why shock loads like aerobics or running in mature women can lead to injuries. Stretching, on the contrary, will put the biological clock on pause.
Can pregnant women practice stretching?
Stretching is one of the few types of fitness, which can be practiced at any stage of pregnancy, right up to the birth. Regular exercise makes the skin more elastic and many times reduces the chance of stretch marks.
By activating all major muscle groups, a set of exercises reduces strain on the spine and relieves expectant mothers from lower back pain. Knowing how to feel your body will also help in childbirth: as a rule, women who regularly find time to visit a fitness club give birth easily and painlessly.
Contraindicated during pregnancy are twisting and bending backwards, lying on your stomach, and any exercises that engage the abdominal muscles. If nausea, dizziness, and heaviness in the lower abdomen occur during the exercise, the training should be stopped immediately.
