Stretching, Why Not? Part 3-5

Warning: There is risk of injury when stretching. If you don’t understand these instructions please do not try to figure out how to do the stretches. Warm up your muscles before you try these stretches (something like some light jogging in place or after a hot shower will suffice). Do these stretches slowly and carefully and stop at the slightest hint of pain.

Today’s stretch is a core stretch primarily for the abs. This is a pretty simple one and you may find that after performing it you’ll want to lie down for a nice little nap. Abdominal tightness is really not that common, but this stretch can also help relieve some tension in the hip flexors which tend to be a common problem area for inflexibility. So without further ado…

Ab Stretch:
1. Lay flat on the floor on your stomach. Don’t start your nap just yet.
2. Place your hands about even with your chest like you are going to do a pushup.
3. Slowly push your upper body up keeping your hips and legs flat on the floor. As you raise you will start to feel a pull in your stomach area. When you feel it hold it for 20 seconds. Don’t push so far that you have trouble breathing or feel discomfort in your back.
4. Lower yourself back down slowly. Rest for 30 seconds, and then repeat.
5. After doing it twice you may now commence napping.

There you have it. This series of blog posts has left you with the knowledge of why stretching is valuable, how to overcome your reluctance to start doing it, and a set of basic stretches to get you on the path toward greater flexibility. I hope these are helpful for you and I hope you commit to giving this stretching thing a try, remember, you won’t be disappointed with the results if you stick with it. For those of you that would like some more advanced stretching or some more detailed instructions on getting started please come see us at our clinic.