Dynamic exercises are gentle movements of what you'll be doing in your days exercise programme. A lot of people mistake static stretching as part of a warm up routine, big mistake.
You should never stretch until your body has warmed up. Imagine if you had a piece of toffee/play putty. When it's hard and you try to stretch it, it breaks, brittle. know take the same piece of toffee /play putty warm it up by heating or rubbing it between your hands then try stretching it. It starts to go with ease. Your ligaments work the same way.
You can perform stretching during your workout. Once areas of your body have warmed up between sets, stop and stretch that area to increase mobility in the muscle then workout another set.
Static stretches are controlled held movements to be performed at the end of a exercise routine when your ready to say "Hey, I'm finished for the day"
So lets give you some examples of Dynamic stretches you can do.
We can work various areas of the body.
- Fingers
- Wrist
- Elbows
- Shoulders
- Neck
- Trunk and shoulder
- Hips
- Knees
- Ankles
- Feet & Toes
Below are some exercises we do during our SMA classes, but you could incorporate these at home before going for a run or doing your home punch bag practise. At least you'll have a better understanding of how and why now.
Neck mobility
Flexion/Extension - Tuck you chin into your chest, and then lift your chin upward as far as possible. 6 to 10 repetitions
Lateral flexion - lower your left ear towards your shoulder and then your right ear to your right shoulder. 6 to 10 repetitions
Rotation - turn your chin laterally towards your left shoulder and then rotate towards your right shoulder. 6 to 10 repetitions
Shoulder circles
Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Raise your right shoulder towards your right ear, take it backwards, down and then up again to the ear in a smooth action. Repeat with other shoulder .
Arm swings
Stand tall. feet slightly wider than shoulder -width apart, knees slightly bent, keep back straight at all times. Overhead / down and back -swing both arms continuously to an overhead position and then forward,down, and backwards. 6 to 10 repetitions
Hips circles and twists
circles - with your hands on your hips and feet spread wider than shoulders, make circles with your hips in a clockwise direction for 10 t o12c repetitions. Then repeat in a counter clockwise direction.
Twists
Extend your arms out to your sides, and twist your torso and hips to the left, shifting your weight on to the left foot. Then twist your torso to the right while shifting your weight to the right foot. 10 t o12 on each side.
Half Squats
Stand tall with good posture holding your hands out in front of you for balance. Now bend at the knees until your thighs are parallel with the floor.
Keep your back long throughout the movement, and look straight ahead.
Make sure that your knees always point in the same direction as your toes.
Once at your lowest point, fully straighten your legs to return to your starting position.
Repeat the exercise sixteen times with a smooth, controlled rhythm.
Breath in as you descend, and out as you rise.
Next time I'll talk about static stretching for better flexibility.
to your Health & Fitness
Mr Darren Hunter.
For more information contact info@solomartialarts.co.uk
