Stretching and "Loosening" Up

[HiTMaN]

Alright peeps, after a bit of advice.

Lateley i have been finding that my muscles ache quite a bit and my joints dont seem to be too healthy with constant cracks when moving. :-(

I think i need to start doing some stretching and try and get myself "loose" and not aching as much as i do.

Anyone recommend any stretching excercises or web sites with routines and any hints in keeping my body flexible and my joints healthy?

Thanks

[storm^phat]

i stretch twice a day - i'll try and find a site with the key ones on

[Mad4It]

Yoga u dont have to do the full thing just get a yoga book and do the warm up pages just light stretching 10mins a day works great tbh m8

[hlspwn]

decent multi vitamin in the morning.

ZMA 1 hr before bedtime, see ya right.

[ezekiel]

had the same thing when i started,
after i've warmed my whrists 10min.
(circular motion) i've had no such problem since :)
Get alot of warm up before you hit the 'iron'
and never forget too pump ya "lower-arm"
I don't know if you pump in a gym or at home
but these excersizes can be done with dumbell's too.
http://www.exrx.net/AnimatedEx/WristFlexors/BBWristCurl.gif

&

http://www.exrx.net/AnimatedEx/WristExtensors/BBReverseWristCurl.gif


remember too get enough pro's 2g. per. Kg. as a minimum***
(4G. if you wanna put on musclemass)

gl.

[Molloy]

This has a pretty good run down of the basic stretches:

http://www.frixo.com/sites/fitness/stretches.html

[InkZ]

Make sure your stetches are relevent to the excerises you'll be doing. There are 3 types. Dynamic, Balistic and Isometric. Dynamic stretches replicate the moving you'll be doing, Balistic is using the force of movement to stretch, and Isometric is using resistance to stretch.

Because I focus on Muay Thai my main stretches are legs, arms and torso. I've done extensive research on it to discover better ways to 'loosen up'. Before a class our instructor makes us do dynamic stretches for our arms, torso and knees, then makes us do static stretches (isometrics) for our legs, I mean wtf?

Easiest example to give you is to stretch for kicks, they make us do the splits. This is useless for a warm up, because the movements we'll be doing is not the splits. We should be doing leg raises, and moving on to mimicing a kicking movement (remember what I said about replicating the movements you'll make during exercise). Static stretching should only be used for a cool down as it over streches the muscles and makes them less responsive.

If you are doing isometric stretches make sure you don't do these more than three times a week. These stress your muscles, and they need time to recover. Isometrics should give you the best results for a greater range of motion on your joints and muscle strength (because you're using resistance).

Quite amusing really because a lot of people seem to have no idea between the diff types of stretching and when to do what type, but armed with this knowledge, hopefully it might help you with some google searches. I'd advise avoiding ballistic stretching all together. You should use controlled motions when stretching, and swinging your arm or leg to push it pass it's natural ROM is asking for injury.

BTW, a dynamic stretching workout is hard work and makes me sweat. Doing 3 sets of 12 leg raises isn't as easy as you'd think. The whole thing should take around 15-20 mins.

[InkZ]

Stupid can't edit after 5 mins :/

I'd suggest Isometrics if you're not warming up for any particular activity, try to do these 3 times a week. If you want to stretch as a warm up, pick dynamic stretches that mimic the movements you'll be performing, and do these before every exercise session.