Stretching for every body part
In the previous post, I explained everything you need to know about stretching, and in this post, I will specifically show you how to effectively stretch each body part. I won't waste any more time, but I do want to emphasize once again that you should definitely read the first part of the post.
To effectively stretch body parts, there's only one thing we need to understand, and once we do, we should immediately grasp it. When stretching, we need to place our body in the correct position. This means not just roughly or similarly, but precisely, at the right angle, and holding our body in a way that makes the stretch truly meaningful.
And I will describe exactly this alongside the illustrations: how to hold yourself.
Stretching the Shoulder Muscles
The entire body is like a structure designed with engineering precision, and this is perfectly evident when stretching the shoulder muscles.
1. First, find something vertical you can grab onto. This shouldn't be a wall, but something you can grip.
2. Stand straight, and as you grip, there's one thing you need to pay attention to. Your wrist, elbow, and shoulder are in line. THEY MUST REMAIN IN LINE even when you turn your body. So, it doesn't work if you turn and your shoulder moves sideways to hell. No. It stays in line throughout.
3. The other important thing. We train consciously and stretch consciously. The moment you step into the gym, you must do everything consciously. You must be aware of what you are doing and why, and how to execute it. This requires consciousness, and consciousness requires knowledge and concentration. All the knowledge is here on LifeTILT, but for concentration, you are needed.
4. Stretching also requires consciousness, so when you stretch your shoulders, you concentrate on your shoulders, and you turn with your shoulder, not your arms. If you feel another body part instead of your shoulders, you're doing it wrong. A common mistake is feeling your biceps or forearms during this stretch. That's how you know you're doing it wrong.
5. Wrist, elbow, shoulder in line, AT THE SAME HEIGHT, and you turn from your shoulder.
6. You exhale as your body turns.
In the next exercise, we'll be even more engineering-minded. This exercise already requires flexibility in itself.
1. Sit on the ground, with your hips, knees, and ankles in line.
2. Place your arms behind you, making sure your wrists, elbows, and shoulders are in line, and your wrists are in line with your hips.
3. Your palms are on the ground, as shown in the illustration, then lift your buttocks slightly off the ground and move your body forward and down.
4. Pay attention to your breathing. Exhale as you move your body forward, and once you're in position, breathe evenly, focusing on your shoulders.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Raise your arm to shoulder height, so your elbow and shoulders are in line.
- With your other hand, grab your elbow and start pushing it inwards, but ensure YOUR UPPER BODY DOES NOT TURN WITH IT.
- Exhale as you push inwards.
If your elbow is not at shoulder height, but only in line with your chest, the stretch will affect your back. That's why you need to pay so much attention to holding your arm exactly where I said. A few centimeters difference, and the stretch won't go where it's supposed to. Again, I'd just like to draw attention to mindfulness.
Stretching the Back Muscles
Did I mention awareness already? Because you'll definitely need it here too.
1. Grab onto anything that you can hold onto and is stable enough to support your body weight. I'm not saying this for no reason; I've seen more than one person fall flat on their face doing this exercise.
2. Everything you can imagine is in line: shoulder, hip, knee, ankle.
3. You grab it, get into position, and let your body fall back, focusing on your back.
4. You exhale as you lean back.
This is the simplest and most commonly used back stretching technique. It stretches the entire back nicely.
1. Everything is aligned: hip, elbow, wrist, knee, ankle.
2. You bring your upper body between your arms, pushing your butt backward and arching your back.
3. Your forearms remain on the floor throughout and DO NOT MOVE.
4. Exhale as you move backward and as you arch your back.
Stretching the Biceps and Triceps
Biceps
Here, the fact that how we move our body and what we focus on makes a huge difference within the same movement becomes clear. This focus requires body awareness, and moving and focusing your energy on the body part you intend. I didn't want to confuse anyone with the "one pose for multiple body parts" idea, but either you learn properly what you need to shape your body, or you really should just go do aerobics instead.
It's the same pose as for shoulder stretching, where you had to sit on the floor, but here you just need to stand and "massage" the wall. If you're not careful, it can easily turn into a shoulder stretch, but there's a very simple way to prevent this. PAY ATTENTION. The focus is on the biceps, you're stretching the biceps.
Triceps
Upper arm next to your head, trying to reach the bottom of your shoulder blade with your palm.
This exercise can also be done leaning against a wall. I tried to draw it, but my drawing is so awful, I'd rather just forget about it.
Triceps stretching under a bar. Very good. Elbows and shoulders in line.
Stretching the Chest Muscles
I always make the mistake of primarily thinking from my own perspective, with a male brain. If someone tells me something, I place it where it belongs according to my past experiences, and if I decide to take the advice I receive, I act accordingly, but most importantly, I understand what they tell me and don't ask idiotic questions. But unfortunately, women don't work that way, which is perfectly fine, as the uncertainty factor is a daily part of their lives.
Am I sure I understood correctly? Should I do it this way now, and if I do it this way, am I doing it right? And besides. Is this really the best method for me? The more questions, the more uncertainty. And there will always be questions from a woman, and if there are questions, then answers will be needed. And this is when the biggest disaster happens. Even though everything is perfectly written here, after the question-tsunami stemming from uncertainty, they will continue to search for solutions, thus reaching websites where the word "information" has been literally humiliated.
The solution is here, what I tell you, follow it. There's no need to be uncertain, because if you do it as I say, you're doing it right, period.
And how does this relate specifically to stretching the chest muscles? Not at all. It just occurred to me now. Shoulders and elbows in line, elbows and wrists in line, and you turn with your body, not pushing your arm forward.
Stretching the Thigh Muscles
We stretch so that the muscles worked during training develop even more efficiently and quickly during the post-training recovery hours and days. This is my most effective argument for stretching. I'm reiterating this information here because we've arrived at the lower body, which, as we know, is infinitely more important to women than any other part of their upper body, of course, with the exception of their breasts.
On leg and glute days, stretch all four parts of your thigh with the following exercises.
Inner thigh
Outer thigh
Hamstring
Front thigh
If you don't happen to have a rope with you, it's also good to find a bench that reaches at least mid-thigh height. You place your foot on it with your shoelaces on the bench, and sit on your heel while your knee faces the ground.
Stretching the glutes
I don't need to elaborate on the importance of stretching your glutes, do I?
Stretch, kids, that's the main thing. Stretch the body part you've worked on after every workout, but it would be best if your 1-minute rest period after each exercise was spent stretching, not messing with your phone.
