Starting The Year Right-Part 5

You might have picked it up in my last post on this series of what I'm going to bring up next. I guess I can mention both of them here in one post. The 5Th part will be about stretching and body toning.
Along with making good food choices and aerobics activity, there should be some stretching for flexibility and toning for strength. You do aerobics for cardiovascular strength for your heart, lungs and blood, etc.
For a total fitness & wellness program you really should add stretching and toning along with that, to get the well rounded benefits.
As we age, we lose flexibility. We can combat that by doing stretches. Being flexible is good because you will have a better range of motion and you won't pull muscles as much when you are flexible. The best time do stretches is after a workout when your muscles are warmed up. I do a few after my workout so I'm not sore the next morning. I know I'm not suppose to but I will do my stretches during the day. The reason being is that muscles are like rubber bands. If you roll a rubber band in your hand, it will turn warm and the rubber band will stretch more easily. If your try stretching a cold rubber band, it could snap. So that is the reason why you should do your stretches when your muscles are already warmed up from your workout. But like I said, I don't follow that rule. But I do take it slow when I stretch. Denise Austin says, stretch to the point of tension, not to the point of pain. When you get to the point of tension, take a deep breath and stretch more into the stretch to the point of tension. Flexibility comes with time and patience and with consistency.
Stretching relieves your daily stress and tensions. It relaxes you. Personally I don't do yoga. Although if you want to practice yoga that's fine for fitness reasons. I just do stretches. I will make some tea and set it on a little table next to me. It will take almost an hour to do all of my stretches. I've been slacking in that department but want to get back to it. Just doing that three times a week is good enough for me to feel the results. I can tell that I haven't done so in awhile, because my body has that tight and achy feeling. Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Especially after doing it on a regular basis, your can really feel the difference if you stop for a few months. I hate that feeling of an achy body all over. Well you don't have to live with that and just say it's do to aging. You can combat that quite a bit if you do your stretches. You can make it a nice relaxing routine just for you. Put on some soothing music if you like. Or even light a candle or get some tea like I do. Put on some loose clothing and just do some stretches from head to toe holding each stretch for at least 20 seconds. I just love to do that and it just feels so good! And when your done your body is free of tension and so relaxed. Trust me, your body will thank you for it. This post is running a little long so I will write about toning in my next part to this fitness & wellness series. I hope that you nice and relaxing day! I'm signing off, from Peek-A-Boo Street.