Be sure your blood is flowing before you start your stretches by doing some light physical activity or do some warmups
The reasons for stretching are to increase your flexibility and prevent injury. As we get older we lose flexibility especially if you havn't been leading a physically active lifesyle so it's something you should deploy into your lfe anyway.
Try and do enough reps to completly stretch the muscle and hold all of them for 20 seconds or so on your last rep. Don't stretch to the point of pain either.
* Start out by gently rolling your neck and shoulders. Rotate your wrist back and forth and bend your arms. If you can, slowly swing your arms in a pendulum motion ,
* With both hands on your hips while
standing straight, slowly bend to the left and right, then hold both sides for 20 seconds at the end.
* Another form of this routine is to stand the same as above, only this time instead of bending, you are going to slowly twist your torso to the right and left. Don't forget to hold it.
* While standing straight, raise both arms above your head. Now get up on your tippy toes and reach for the ceiling. Slowly go up and down and hold in the up position on your last 20 second stretch.
* This time while standing straight, slowly bend down and touch your toes. Now stand up touching your hips then raise your arms above your head. Try and do it in a slow fluid motion. Repeat the process and hold for the 20 seconds while touching your toes.
* Find a table or counter top that is around waist high. Now stand sideways with one of your hips facing the surface. Place one hand on the surface, palm down and raise the other arm above your head in a C shape like a balarina. Slowly go up on your toes while bending towards your your other arm. ( This is also good for reducing love handles, so you may want to make it part of your fat burning activity routines).
Once you have stretched for 5 or 10 minutes, you are ready to begin your fat burning activity routines or exercise program. Everyones bodytype is different, so be sure to only do the stretches you can perform without to much strain or difficulty. When you first begin you will feel a little stiff, but this will go away as you progress.
Apply these stretching routines before all your activities, including normal physical activity. You should be feeling more nimble and healthy especially if you've finally made the decision to include exercise or physical activity routines into your daily life. Quality exercise combined with a quality diet program will give you the best chance possible to get to the proper weight thats right for you..
Consistency is the key to success when it comes to weight loss, so be sure to set up a program for yourself and stick to it.....................Good Luck!
