As we mentioned on previous blog posts, we are going to talk about some generalities about joint mobility and stretching.
JOINT MOBILITY:
Joint mobility’s aim is to decrease interarticular viscosity and avoid pain caused by sport performance impact. These exercises must be performed carefully and slowly, during 15 seconds approximately. Here are some of the most common joint mobility exercises:
Ankle flexo-extension:
Lift your heels up and down, with your tiptoes on the floor.
Knee flexo-extension:
Pretend to sit down and slowly stand up again.
Hip circumduction:
Place your hands on your hips, make circular movements back and forth.
Elbow flexo-extension:
Slowly extend and flex your forearm.
Wrist flexo-extension:
Interlace your fingers, move your wrists left to right making small circular movements.
Shoulder circumduction:
Circle arms from shoulder 360º alternatively.
RECOMMENDED: Cardio from Fushi
Bilateral neck inclination:
Do not force neck inclination. Bring your ear close to your shoulder. Make this movement alternatively to your left and right. Make sure you don’t do it the wrong way round! i.e. bring your shoulder close to your ear!
Neck flexo-extension:
Stand up straight. Bring your chin close to your chest and go back to starting position.
Cat-Camel (for instructions, see our previous post)
STRETCHING:
As it happens with warm up, stretching should also follow a sequence. There are different types of stretching exercises but, generally, we can divide them in two types: active and passive stretching.
SEE ALSO: Stretching
You should never try passive stretching during the warm up, except when working on flexibility exercises.
Active Stretching: involves muscular contraction without using additional tools or external help. These exercises increase flexibility and muscular resistance.
Passive Stretching: requires external help (from a friend or therapist) or external elements such as a wall, wall bars, etc. Passive stretching is recommended when there is muscular stiffness and at the end of training.
On our next post, we will tell you more about active stretching exercises. Don’t miss out!
