Hello and welcome to another exciting episode on Brides Made Fit videoblog. We’re actually a podcast now. We’re officially a podcast on iTips. I am Jennifer Didonato, this is episode number 9.
And today, I am stressing again the importance of flexibility. We are going to find out, How flexible are you? Now I guess in the past, and also on my blog, that flexibility is very important because it keeps your muscles and your joints and everything is just loose and functioning properly—not loose but it keeps them nice and limber working together. In that way, you’re less prone to injury and you can perform much better at the gym or in your sport as well. So, with corporating flexibility it is one of the most important things in your exercise program. So please don’t leave it out.
Now, if you want to know how flexible you are, you can do this simple test at home. You may see it in gym class when you are in high school or junior high doing the precedence of flexibility test. This one is a little different but we’re not doing it on the box right now. You can grab any type of box. And what I want you to do is grab a ruler. I have my dear ruler.
So, you’re going to put this ruler right here and tape it at the 15 cm mark. So, the 15 cm is going to be right at this ledge right here. I want you to put your feet flat against the box. I want your legs straight. Don’t lift up those knees, keep them nice and straight to the ground. Back straight, arms up straight and then you’re going to go inhale and exhale and go down slowly and hold for two second. Now, my figure is at 29 cm. Well, that’s pretty good.
Actually, the way to tell if you’re really flexible is if your hands are at 27 and above. 27 cm and over is awesome flexible. So what can I say? I’m awesome. I’m just joking. But, if you are at 15 cm which is considered 0, remember, because we started at 15, that’s about average because as long as you can touch your toes, you’re fine, but you definitely have a way to improve. Now, if you are less than that, so negative any centimeters, so meaning, you’re not touching your toes, it’s definitely time for some intervention.
Now, I can show you some stretches that would definitely help in getting you more flexible and getting your program and your exercise performance in tiptop shape and prevent any injuries. First, we are going to do the bent hamstrings stretch. You’re just going to lie on your back, bring one leg straight up and bring the other one bent, and just going to bring it towards your chest as far as you can. And, I want you to hold this for about 20 to 30 seconds breathing normally and no bouncing. They are going to switch. This scale is to help in loosening up the hip flexors and also the gluts a little bit as well.
Now, I want you to sit up—this is another one that you can do that will really target the hamstrings. You are going to bring your foot into almost your groin area. Keep your legs straight and just go down leading with your chest. Exhale nice and slowly. I want you to hold that for about 20 to 30 seconds. This one may be a little bit more difficult. So, it is just as far as you can do. No bouncing and make sure that your knee is not bending. And, repeat that with the other leg as well.
Try to do this every morning when you wake when everything is nice and relaxed and you’re not all tensed from spending the whole day at work and walking from your car. So, try to do it first thing in the morning, plus, you can get it out of the way.
Well, all of these things, you can try at home. If you have any questions, you can email me. I would love to hear from you at info@bridesmadefit.com. We do a videoblog every week so you can definitely subscribe to us through our website. Just log in your email address and we’ll shoot you an email whenever we have a new video or blog up. And also, we have our podcast now on iTunes and on YouTube. So, just go on to YouTube or iTunes and just type in the keyword “brides made fit” and you’ll find me there every week just like I promised.
So, thank you so much for joining us this week. And if you want to give us a call, if you are in the metro community area, you can give me a call at 888-MADEFIT and I’ll come to you if you need any personal training or any one-on-one guidance or set up an boot camps.
So once again, I’m Jennifer DiDonato and I will see you next week. Get stretching.
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