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Stretching is a type of physical exercise where a particular muscle or a group of muscles is stretched in order to improve the elasticity of the muscles. The stretching exercises are usually done at the beginning of the more tedious exercises or in the end, when it is important to cool down and relax the muscles.
General concepts and types of stretching
Stretching should be a part of workout routine before and after workout. Stretching at the beginning of the exercises is great to warm up the muscles and prepare them for the activity. Stretching after the workout helps you relax your muscles while they are still warm. Not only does this prevent injuries, but it reduces the stress in the muscles and brings relief to your body. The most common types of exercises include:
Static stretches – The stretching of the muscle until you feel the gentle tension and holding the muscle in this position for a short period, before letting go and repeating the move.
Dynamic stretches – The stretching of this kind involves an activity, for example walking or performing a certain movement, such as arm circles, lunges, etc. Each movement is repeated a certain number of times.
Ballistic stretches – This type of stretching is similar to dynamic exercise, but it involves bigger movements which are done faster, such as with high leg kicks. Ballistic exercises are more typical for professional athletes.
Stretches routines
Title: DAILY STRETCHING ROUTINE | FLEXY FRIDAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEhxYAB8Sfs
Description: This week Grace takes you through her daily stretching routine. These stretches are good for any type of athlete including dancers, gymnasts, cheerleaders, tumbling, martial arts & tricking.
Always remember to take these stretches at your own pace, and not over do it. These stretches are only to guide you, so please only do it to the best of your ability and ease into it daily. The more you practice, the more flexible you will become.
Title: 20 Minute Full Body Stretching Routine for Flexibility & Pain Relief, How to Stretch, Beginners Yoga
Description: 20 Minute Full Body Stretching Routine for Flexibility & Pain Relief by Cindie, who teaches Yoga in Austin, Texas at East Side Yoga.
In this video, Cindie shares a 20 minute yoga routine to increase energy levels, great for morning or anytime you’re feeling fatigue, stress or depression. Perfect for yoga beginners, this yoga stretch routine will relieve back pain and help you to gain more flexibility. Great for full body yoga class with safe stretches.
Title: How to Stretch Correctly Before & After Exercising
Description: When it comes to overall fitness, stretching plays a major part and should be given equal importance as your workout.
When done properly stretching can:
1) Increase flexibility
2) Reduce post-exercise muscle soreness
3) Enhance your fitness performance
4) Reduce the risk of injury
5) Reduce muscle tension
6) Increase physical and mental relaxation
There are many different types of stretches depending on your fitness goal. I’ll be sharing 2 basic stretches, which should be done before and after every workout session; Dynamic Stretching & Static Stretching. Watch this video to learn about the different stretches, when to do them and tips to increase flexibility.
Stretching tends to be underemphasised in most training, but remember it is as important as your workouts. It doesn’t take long at all, spending just 5 minutes to stretch before and after a workout can make a huge difference to your overall fitness performance long term.
Title: Full Body Stretching Exercises | Flexibility Workout | Class FitSugar
Description: Stretching helps prevent injuries, increase flexibility and calm your mind. The best time to stretch is after a workout, when your muscles are warm and pliable. Keep your entire body flexible with this 10-minute stretching routine. It’s perfect after cardio or a strength-training session. Press play, and get ready to unwind and cool down.
Title: Stretching Exercise
Description: Stretching Stretching is the most important part of any workout or physical activity, as it prepares the muscles for the strain that is to come. It also helps the muscles stay limber after a workout, and practicing it regularly can help prevent injuries and promote flexibility and strength. When the muscles are stretched, they are extended to a resistance point and held there momentarily. This helps the muscles, but it also helps joints by keeping them moving freely.
Why Stretch? Stretching will help you develop a range of movement that will assist your running action and your performance, regardless of how fit you are or how fast you run. Stretching decreases the risk of injury by increasing the supply of blood and nutrients to your joints. It also improves your co- ordination and balance and helps alleviate soreness and stress in your muscles. As a runner stretching should be an integral part of your routine, along with effective warm-up and cool- down.
Title: Stretching: Is It Necessary?
Description: An examination of the questionable purposes of stretching.
Stretches before workout
Title: Pre Workout Flexibility Stretches for Runners & Athletes – Leg Exercise Routine
Description: Pre Workout Flexibility Stretches for Runners & Athletes – Leg Exercise Routine goes over stretches to improve flexibility for legs. It is designed specifically for runners but is good for any physical exercise involving the legs. Follow along this stretch routine to improve flexibility.
Title: Full Split Complete Stretching Routine
Description: Stretching routine, especially suitable for beginners, as well as all those active people who are looking to increase flexibility, which is very important part of getting fit and exercising regularly.
Title: Stretching Routine: Warm Up Exercises
Description: Alright guys, you’ve been asking for a static stretching routine either to do before a workout or to cool down after a workout. Well today fitness trainer Kelsey Lee has a video exclusively designed to show you all the best stretches to keep your body loose and ready for exercise. Follow along and please, let us know what you thought so we can adjust our future videos to your liking!
Title: The Ultimate Warmup Before Working Out | Class FitSugar
Description: Fitness is an important part of a healthy life. And stylish, functional gear that supports your workouts makes those sweat sessions even more enjoyable. That is why we have partnered with maurices on this 10-minute warmup. Before you hit the ground running or pick up your first dumbbell, you need to warm up. Getting the blood flowing with a little cardio and dynamic stretching preps your muscles and joints for a better, more effective workout. And do we have a warmup for you! This 10-minute video prepares you for any workout, helping to prevent injury and post-workout soreness. Press play to get your sweat session started.
Stretches after workout
Title: Flexibility Leg Stretches, 8 Minute Legs! Stretching After Workout Routine for Beginners at Home
Description: The instructor Dena Maddie shows nine after workout stretching for legs. It helps you relax the muscles in your legs, and it also helps you increase mobility and motion. The exercise requires no additional equipment, except for an exercise mat where you will be doing most of the stretching.
Title: Total Body Stretch – Flexibility Exercises for the Entire Body
Description: Stretching helps improve your flexibility, which in turn improve your athletic performance and decrease your risk of injury. The following exercises are part of this 9 minutes stretching, perfect for a cool down after the strenuous workout:
- Wall to wall stretch
- Knee to arm pit
- Hamstring stretch
- Hip abductor stretch
- Glutes stretch
- Back stretch
- Quad stretch
- Hug knees-neck stretching
Title: Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones Workout- Stretching Cool Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiPzM1AUxao
Description: No More Trouble Zones Workout – Stretching Cool Down is a soothing stretching series and the final exercise from the “No More Trouble Zones” Fitness DVD that is designed to lengthen muscle, lubricate the joints, and maximize workout results. Boost your energy levels, increase flexibility, and prevent injury with America’s Toughest Trainer, Jillian Michaels as she takes you through several cool down exercises that will stretch out your thighs, calves, hamstrings, shoulders, triceps, abs, back, chest, and neck. Relax, refresh, and reward yourself with this gratifying segment that includes a mixture of static stretches and Yoga poses to help maintain workout effects and leave you feeling your best, both mentally and physically. This circuit can be done anywhere and makes a great addition to any workout.
Title: Feel Good Stretching Routine – Fitness Blender’s Relaxing Cool Down Stretch Workout
Description: Feel Good Stretching Routine consists of 9 fluid stretching exercises and you should do 8 repetitions for each exercise. You will not need any equipment for these stretching exercises, except for your exercise mat. This stretching routine includes the following exercises:
- Cobra to child’s pose
- Cat to cow
- Lying side jacks
- Pilates saw
- Toe touch swoops
- Butterfly + Chest stretch
- Back & hamstring windmill
- Quadriceps pull pulses
Back stretches
Title: 6 Exercises to Strengthen Your Back | Class FitSugar
Description: Don’t let back pain keep you down! Here are six exercises that will keep your spine healthy and your core strong. This five-minute workout will teach you the essentials for maintaining a better back, from flexible hips to strong abs. Press play, get ready to stretch and strengthen your back, and feel relief. The exercise consists of six moves which will help you stretch out your back.
- Cat and dog
- Child’s pose
- Lying knee hug
- Bird dog
- Plank with leg raise
- Kneeling psoas stretching
Title: Stretches for Tense Shoulders & Back Pain Relief, Beginners How to Routine, Safe Stretching Yoga
Description: Feeling like you have tense shoulders or a tense neck? Could you possibly be experiencing back pain? This how to yoga stretch at home workout routine video will help give you back pain relief as well as neck and should pain relief in just under 20 minutes. Jen Hilman demonstrates amazing shoulder and back stretches.
Title: BACK Stretch Exercises – Bodybuilding Stretching Routine
Description: Of all aspects of bodybuilding training, stretching is the one part that is most often ignored by the majority of people. It is just one of those things that seems to get pushed off to the side as not that important.
Well, one thing you probably didn’t realize is that when stretching is properly integrated into a weight training program it can actually speed up your muscle growth.
The connective tissues that surround the muscles is very tuff and hugs the muscle fibers tight. This can actually constrict expansion and growth. For muscle hypertrophy to occur the surrounding fascia needs to be stretched and become more pliable in order to give the muscle fibers room enough to expand grow bigger.
Even if you haven’t seriously focused on stretching before, the muscle mass that you have built up to this point came about from the stretching and expanding of the muscles encasing tissue. During your workouts when blood is being pumped into the muscles, the surrounding connective tissues are being stretched, that’s why you get that tight feeling we call “the pump”.
The ideal time to stretch for increasing muscle mass is right after you’ve trained a particular body part and the muscles are “pumped up” and feeling tight.
At this stage the connective tissues are already being stretched from the blood volume in the muscles, and then by manually stretching the muscles as well, you get a double whammy effect and this really increases the muscle fibers growth potential.
In this video I’m going to cover some stretches that you can do after a BACK WORKOUT. In future videos I’ll cover stretching workouts that you can do for all the major muscle groups.
Title: Simple Stretching Exercises: Lower Back Stretching Exercises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc0JF5cRofE
Description: Learn how to stretch lower back in this free fitness video series on simple stretching exercises. This is a quick stretching routine, perfect for people who spend a lot of time sitting, and they have a lot of stress piled up in their lower back. The exercises do not require much space or any fitness equipment, so they can be done almost anywhere. The exercise is shows by Teri Lynne. Teri Lynne has worked as an event planner and host throughout Canada and the United States.
Leg stretches
Title: Good LEG Stretching Exercises
Description: In this video I’m going to cover some stretches that you can do after a LEG WORKOUT.
This is another workout introduced by Lee Hayward, a muscle building coach who is committed to helping aspiring bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts gain muscle, burn body fat, and develop a strong muscular body. Lee Hayward is the creator of Total Fitness Bodybuilding which is all about helping you transform your body to maximize your strength and fitness so that you can live a healthy active lifestyle in & out of the gym!
Title: Lower Body Stretching Routine for Flexibility – Fitness Blender Cool Down Stretches
Description: This lower body stretching routine consists of 10 stretches, and you should stay in each position roughly 30 seconds. The exercises included in this routine are the following:
- Toe touch stretch
- Standing inside thigh stretch
- Standing quadriceps stretch
- Deep glute stretch
- Butterfly stretch
- Seated hip stretch
- Seated hamstring and oblique stretch
- Seated single leg hamstring stretch
- Seated crossover hamstring stretch
- Standing wall calf stretch
Title: Stretching for Leg Flexibility! Swimsuit Slimdown Series
Description: I’m going to teach you how to build more flexible legs. Why? Not only will you get to learn awesome yoga poses, but you’ll also be able to get a better workout while preventing injury!
Title: Calf, Lower Leg & Foot Stretching Routine – Active Isolated Stretching
Description: Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) & Core Strengthening Sequence for the muscles of the Lower Leg, Calf, Ankle, and Foot. Strengthens opposing muscles.