Beebleblog

If we are honest with ourselves the majority of us are pretty bad at making sure that we stretch regularly. When we do stretch we know that the muscles feel shortened and tight and there is probably that small feeling of guilt and a vague promise to yourself that you will stretch more regularly in the future. Then to make up for all the lack of stretching you force your stretch too far…

Making up for missed stretching sessions by trying to fit it into one almighty stretch routine (that makes torture seems like a day at the beach - Beeble) is going to lead to problems.

So what’s so special about stretching?

Stretching is very similar to ordinary exercise in that you don’t get results from one workout but a combination of regular workouts over a period of time. As with stretching it is the regular work that reaps results and not how far you can go in one sitting.

Technorati Tags: how much to stretch, how to stretch, lengthening your muscles, not stretching too far, Stretch, Stretching, the importance of stretching, top tip for stretching

Everyone should be stretching a couple of times daily as everything we do to our bodies during the day results in short, tightened muscles - whether you have a physical job or a stationary desk job. Without stretching daily the muscles become tighter and shorter and it is this shortness that creates the inability to lengthen by choice or by some other outside force like tripping. When our muscles are suddenly taken out of their comfort zone an injury can quickly follow. Typically the back, especially the lower back is the first to get injured. This is because a lot of muscles when they become short will directly affect the back. So if you have a bad back or not this “Praying Stretch” could be well worth doing.

Why this stretch?

Technorati Tags: back pain, back stretches, bad back, lower back, Stretching

A few days ago I was asked the question: can sit ups make your stomach bigger? It took me back to my school days when there was a belief that too many sit ups would have the opposite effect of the desired flat tummy and actually give you a big stomach. So I have taken it upon myself to settle this myth once and for all.

Is it possible?

It is true that if you exercise a muscle it will grow in size and therefore surely exercise on your stomach will increase the muscle size and therefore make it stick out? Strictly speaking this is true, however the muscle will develop in all directions and not just outwards. It would also take an immense amount of exercise to achieve a large gut and you would be spending way too much time on your stomach. However that said there are people though that will find their stomach sticks out more once they have started their exercise routine that includes an ab workout.

Technorati Tags: abdominals, Abs, big, bulge, crunches, Exercise, fitness, flat, situps, stomach, tummy, workout

What are the Lat muscles?

The Lat muscles are positioned on your back and are the large “wing” like (shaded in yellow on the diagram) muscles that travel down either side of your back. Their full name is Latissimus Dorsi and they are one of the biggest muscles in our upper body. They join into our upper arms and reach all the way down our backs to our pelvis.

What do we use them for?

Any pulling movement that brings an object towards our bodies. Ranging from the simple task of pulling open a door to a back specific exercise like the bent over row or the classic chin up exercise. With our arms in an upright position above our heads the Lat muscles aid in pulling them down against resistance in front of us or to our sides. A lot of the movements created by the Lat muscles are assisted by the Biceps (shaded in red in the diagram) (click here for biceps stretch) and that is because usually when we pull something in towards us the elbow joint bends and it is the biceps that do this movement.

Technorati Tags: Back, Exercise, fitness, latissimus dorsi, Lats, Stretch, workout

What are the calf muscles?

The calf muscles are situated at the back of your legs below the knees. Scientifically the main portion of the calf muscle and the muscle usually considered as the calf is called the Gastrocnemius. It has two sections that run alongside each other originating from just above the knee and ending at the heel. The lesser known muscle that makes up the rest of the calf muscle sits under the Gastrocnemius and is known as the Soleus. The Soleus originates from just below the knee and joins into the same section of the heel as the Gastrocnemius. They both join on to the heel via a very well known and well injured tendon known as the Achilles tendon.

What do we use them for?

Technorati Tags: calf, Exercise, fitness, muscle, pain, Stretch, tight, workout