Yesterday, my Indian yoga teacher gave me a piece of advice:
“Stretch in winter. And you’ll feel like a new person by summer.”
Wondering why?
There’s science behind this.
Cold weather makes our muscles tighten up. Winter stretching gets that blood flowing, loosens things up.
When summer arrives, the warm weather makes your already stretched muscles even more flexible.
You’ll notice a significant improvement in your flexibility and overall movement.
It’s like doing pull-ups with a weight vest.
Hard at first, but then everything’s a breeze once you take off the extra weight.
This got me thinking.
This is true for life, too. Tough times? They’re your winter. Stretch, grow, push through.
When things ease up, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Anyway, back to stretching!
Regardless of your current fitness goals, regular stretching always helps to enhance performance and wellbeing.
So, you should do it!
Here’s my current stretching routine:
Breathing Exercises (2 types, 10 reps each):
- Raise arms overhead.
- Extend arms in front.
- Hold the last rep for a deeper stretch.
Joint Exercises:
- Neck: Gentle rotations and stretches.
- Wrists: Flex and extend, then rotate.
- Elbows: Flexion and extension movements.
- Shoulders: Rotations and shrugs.
- Side Bends and Twisting: For torso flexibility.
Lower Limbs:
- Ankles: Rotations and flexes.
- Knees: Gentle bending and extending.
- Hips: Rotations and stretches.
- Quads: Standing or lying stretches for the front of the thigh.
- Butterfly Stretch: Sitting with feet together, knees apart.
- Spine/Scapular/Cat and Cow: For back flexibility and mobility.
- Pigeon Pose: From a plank, bring one leg forward into a bent position, extend the other leg back.
Sun Salutation: 6 – 10 rounds. You can start with a basic flow like this.
This routine has significantly improved my mobility and flexbility, especially for handstands. Give it a try!
If you’re looking to design your own routine to meet your needs, check out this library by GMB.IO.
