Ok there has been a lot of talk on the forum about fitness and preppers. It seems there are 2 camps the young preppers talking about pumping iron and going out running and the more “seasoned†preppers that believe that walking is all they are capable of... Briskly if it’s a good day.
If you want to try resistance training you can stick with bottles filled with sand or just bodyweight but you miss major muscle groups and that can lead to injury. I can give more details on resistance stuff if anyone wants.
Before we begin please consult a medical professional before any exercise routine no responsibility is taken by me if you are injured in anyway.
Common sense should prevail.
There is more to fitness than lifting weights, stability and flexibility is as important as strength. For those with injury i would advise seeking out a sports masseuse or physio. Going through your GP can be more time consuming but they should have advised you to look into it. I do have qualifications for sports massage although I am probably a little rusty as I haven’t done it in a while.
I have missed out the neck area as i do not want to give it to people i am not with as it a high risk area.
Some good stretching techniques are:
For the chest:
Standing in a doorway, face the frame and put one forearm against the frame and then rotate away till you feel a stretch on the pectoral muscle.
Stand in the doorway and hold on to the frame with each hand and lean forward as your arms move behind you. You should feel a stretch in your chest and front of your shoulder
Sitting on a mat with your legs crossed and back straight place both palms on your lower back and move your elbows towards each other.
For the hip flexors and quads (front of thigh):
Kneel on a mat or soft surface with one foot on the floor in front of you and the other with the knee on the floor beneath you (as if you were to propose). Hands steadying you if needed or on your waist move the hip that is on the knee down side forward by clenching buttocks and leaning back slightly. You should feel the stretch on the front of the hip.
Standing or lying face down hold onto your laces and bring the heel of one foot towards your buttocks. This is the most well known quadricep Stretch and you should feel it in the front of the thigh and towards the hip.
Hamstrings (back of thigh) and calfs:
Laying on your back use a towel to wrap around the arch of your foot and bring your straight leg towards the ceiling. You should feel the stretch on the back of the thigh. Touching your toes (or attempting to) does stretch your hamstrings but I believe it to focus more on your back instead but it is still a good stretch to perform.
While standing take a large step forward as if in a lunge position. Keep both feet facing forward and maintaining an upright position bend the rear leg at the knee and sink down while keeping feet flat on the floor. The rear leg’s heel should remain flat to the floor to feel a stretch along the calf. A bigger step forward may be required to feel the stretch.
Back muscles:
While standing in an upright position with feet shoulder width apart and facing as forward as comfortable. Raise one arm and place the other on your hip or use to steady yourself reach over to the other side to feel a stretch along the side of the torso.
While in the standing position with hands on your waist rotate your torso till you feel a stretch. Do not bounce and do not twist at the knee. Bending your knees slightly may help.
While on all fours arch you upper back towards the ceiling and then arch the opposite way with your lower back.
Arms
While Kneeling rotate your arms out and go into all fours with your fingers pointing towards your knees and try to get your palms flat on the floor
The secret to improving flexibility fast.
The fastest way to improve flexibility fast is a technique called muscle energy techniques (MET).
This is done when performing a stretch, for this example it will be the hamstring stretch. When the leg is in the air, take a deep breath in and then use 10% of your strength to return your leg to the floor while you hold it in place with the towel or have a partner help. Do this for 7 seconds and breathe out for the 7 seconds then return the leg to the floor and perform the stretch again and see if there is any difference.
For more reading on this look up reciprocal inhibition.
Anywho this is just some basic stuff. Just thought i would share
Search
Calendar
Help
