The American Council on Exercise, or ACE, states that flexibility is one of the five components of fitness and this means that stretching should be an integral part of your workout program. As you age, your body naturally become less flexible and more prone to injury. Staying flexible can help you to keep your body more limber and youthful. A good stretching video will help you to incorporate stretching into your fitness program, but you need to know which videos will be best for you.
Mind Body Connection
One of the important ways to improve your strength training is to know what muscles you are working and where they are specifically located. Making this mind to body connection allows you to focus better on the working muscles. This rule also applies to a good stretching program. Karen Voight has created many workout videos, including a stretching video entitled "Pure and Simple Stretch." Just as in her regular exercise videos, she is good at cueing the viewer and making sure you understand which muscles you are stretching, where they are located, and why you should stretch them. Look for videos like this, which do a good job on explaining the details of what you are doing.
Expert Knowledge
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, or ACSM, each day you perform cardiovascular or weight training exercises you should take an extra 10 minutes to stretch the major muscles and tendon groups, allowing 10-30 seconds for each stretch. Stretching requires good attention to detail and knowledge from a professional. Tamilee Webb, who has created a variety of fitness videos, is a qualified expert who does a great job of applying good techniques in stretching. In her video, "Total Stretch for Beginners with Tamilee," she provides detailed information on how to properly stretch muscles throughout your body.
Finding Time
ACE recognizes that stretching is often a part of fitness that many people have trouble finding extra time to commit to it. Stretching videos can vary in length and you may not always be able to finish a 60 minute video program. Annette Fletcher's stretching video, "Perfect in Ten: Stretch--10-minute Workouts" is a program that really accommodates those individuals who have trouble setting time aside. By keeping the time to 10 minutes, you can integrate stretching into your daily activities and still have time for all the other things you need to take care of each day.
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