Josh Perez Fitness

It is extremely important for you to find an exercise plan that will help you achieve your goal weight without putting you at risk for further injury. I always suggest consulting a fitness professional to create a customized fitness plan based on your goals, injuries, and time frame.

First, it’s important to stretch before you attempt any kind of exercise. Stretching exercises will help increase the mobility and flexibility of the soft tissues that surround your spine. Focus especially on the hamstrings, in the backs of your thighs, and the gluteal muscles of your buttocks. It’s also important to increase the strength of your core muscles, which stabilize your back and abdomen. There are a number of different approaches for this that a fitness professional can teach you.

Lastly, remember that you should seek low-impact activities, such as walking, biking, and swimming. Try to avoid exercises that put undue strain on your back, like sit-ups, or those that require you to twist or use weights. Shoot for 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions for timely holds. Each repetition should be held for a minimum of 10 seconds. I always suggest doing core stability work with self myo-fascial release stretching. These approaches will help you reach your desired goal of losing weight without the risk of re-injuring your back.

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By having some helpful knowledge for stretching we can increase performance and results. Weightlifting is a sport that requires a tremendous amount of flexibility. Any lack of flexibility in major muscles or joints like the shoulder, elbows, hips, wrists and lower legs will limit your potential. Therefor you should be familiar and consistent with different stretching methods and understand the function of the muscles and joints involved.

In weightlifting, training increases your strength, and it’s due to the organism adapting over time, to the added stress. Flexibility training works in the same manner. Consistency and exceeding the existing range of motion are responsible for increases in flexibility. So the body’s natural adaptive responses is to increase flexibility in the active joints.

Joint Flexibility & Limitations:

1. Lack of elasticity of connective tissues
2. Muscle Tension
3. Lack of coordination and strength during movement
4. Bone and joint structure limitations
5. Pain

Also, to increase your range of motion of a joint, stretching must accomplish 1 of 3 things:

1. Increase the extensibility of connective tissue
2. Increase inter-muscular coordination
3. Increase intra-muscular coordination

Types & Varieties of Stretching

There are numerous recognized forms of stretching through out the fitness world and each type of stretch is specific to your different need and or goal. I will define the big 3: Static, Ballistic and Passive/ Active. Whichever method is going to be used, the possibility of injury depends on several factors including intensity, duration, frequency and velocity.

Static:

Static stretching is an effective and popular technique that is often taught in P.E. classes ranging from junior high all the way through the professional sports world. It involves a holding a position for a period of time, typically between 10 and 30 seconds, and which you could repeat or not. Static stretching involves total control, little or no movement, and minimal to zero velocity of the movement. The benefits of static stretching includes scientific research supporting the increase of range of motion, and minimal to no muscle soreness. Everyone can benefit from static stretching.

Ballistic:

Ballistic stretching involves movement in a dynamic (moving) fashion. Many athletes such as martial artists, gymnasts, and NFL players use ballistic stretches as a warm-up where movement through a full range of motion is necessary. Also, numerous amounts of weightlifting athletes incorporate ballistic stretches to prepare tendons, ligaments, and the musculature around the major joints for external load bearing exercises. These sport specific stretches and movements are effective in improving flexibility and mobility. Some examples of this are:

• Leg swings
• Arm circles
• Kicks

Here are some disadvantages to ballistic stretching (Yes they do exist):

1. Inadequate tissue adaptation – if tissue is stretched too rapidly, lasting flexibility cannot be optimally developed.
2. Soreness resulting from injury – if the ballistic movements are high in amplitude, slight tearing or stretching injuries may occur in your muscle
3. Initiation of the stretch reflex – if a sudden stretch is applied to the muscle, a reflex action is initiated causing the muscle to contract. This causes an increase in muscle tension and a decrease in stretching ability.

Passive – Active:

With this passive – active stretching, generally you have a partner who helps guide you through this stretch. Your partner does all of the manipulation and this will benefit both of you in a few ways.

1. Positive feedback from your partner
2. Reduces boredom
3. Helps familiarize you with a stretching program

One of the top books that I have found to help guide you through the “correct” way of stretching for your goal is titled “The Dynamic Flexibility Manual.” This manual will answer all of your questions and it illustrates images on how to perform the stretches. I have the book listed below:

There are a number of myths and misconceptions regarding strength training and flexibility, which you should recognize. Here are 3 examples:

1. Strength gains may limit flexibility
2. Flexibility gains may have detrimental effects on strength
3. Muscle gain will decrease flexibility causing you to be “muscle bound”

The truth is – strength training or weightlifting does not limit your flexibility, but actually improves it through proper weight lifting technique. Their are 2 main keys for developing flexibility through resistance training. First, the muscle or muscle groups must work together through the entire range of motion. Second, there must be an emphasis on the eccentric (negative) contraction. The reason is because there is greater stress on the muscle fibers while trying to work through full range of motion – consequently, this increases flexibility. With the greater stress being on the eccentric (negative) part of training, their will be more muscle soreness.

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A specific warm-up should follow the general warm-up and stretching routine before any type of intense exercise. The specific warm-up relates to activities specific to your resistance training program or training session. Depending on the exercise, you may to choose to use no weights, or use the bar when performing these exercises that I have listed below. Here are the examples.

• Pressing movements
• Pulling movements
• Arm circles
• Trunk circles
• Overhead squats
• Knee circles
• Squat to a overhead press
• Muscle snatch
• Wrist circles
• Core movements

A cool-down gives the body a period of adjustment from exercise to recovery. You may choose this time to improve flexibility, but more importantly, the cool-down assists in muscular relaxation and promotes the removal of muscular waste products by the blood. Lastly, It also reduces muscular soreness and allows the cardiovascular system to adjust back to it’s normal levels.

A general warm-up involves exercising muscle groups of the body under light or minimal loading. These movements should be general in nature and not related to movements in the workout, training session, or activity. A general warm-up is everything it says it is, just nice easy light flowing warm up to get the blood circulating.

Some examples of a general warm-up are jumping jacks, riding a stationary bicycle, skipping or light calisthenics. Warm-ups should be intense enough to increase the body core temperature and cause minimal perspiration (sweating) but not fatigue. A nice thorough warm-up will improve performance and your conditioning. Here is a list of some of the benefits:

• Increased rate of strength of muscle contraction
• Increased metabolic rate
• Increased muscle coordination through related movements
• Increased work capacity/anaerobic activity
• Reducing the risk of injury
• Psychological benefits

Following your general warm-up, you should include a flexibility routine. Flexibility exercises are those exercises that increase the range of motion of a joint. These exercises should immediately follow your warm-up because the increase in the tissue temperature will make the stretching both safer and more productive. “Cold muscles” injure very easily and stretching them before they are warm can produce tearing injuries. Which is the very last possible scenario we want to happen.

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