You have been aspiring to get into shape but do not know as to which form of exercise could help you in your journey to better health. Out of many exercises, in recent past, an entirely new concept of facilitated stretching came into being and it is sure that it can help you to get into shape and make you fit. Stretching exercise is a great way to make people get their lost fitness back and you can also explore the possibility of doing, not alone but with the help of a facilitator, for better results.
Once you start with facilitated stretching you can really appreciate its fitting role and you can also see your journey towards better fitness has been made easy with facilitated stretching. But, a word of caution is that any overenthusiastic approach can make you to end up with muscle strains and hence you must get to know the intricacies in detail before you could start your stretching regime.
Learn more about Facilitated Stretching
As the name goes, facilitated stretching is one form of exercise where in another person will actively assist you during your entire stretching sessions. You may be aware that for achieving greater flexibility of your muscles the concept of isometric work and motion is used and this concept is the base for facilitated stretching too.
Facilitated stretching is normally done in three steps namely, selecting the target muscles and stretching it actively in the first step, using isometric motion to contract the stretched muscle in the second step and stretching the same muscle again in the third step.
Many people carry a mistaken notion that stretching could really be beneficial only when the person could feel the pain in his muscles, but in reality the pain is an indication of inability of your muscles to stretch any further and this may result in muscle injury. In fact you can even see people who have got their tendons torn due to excess stretching and hence it is not advisable to stretch your muscles beyond certain limits.
The very concept of facilitated stretching is that you will be stretching your muscles only to a level where you can feel comfortable and you can also notice that in the event of your forced stretching you can feel the pain in your muscles and your muscles will also become tight, which is nothing but muscle contraction, a natural defense mechanism, to prevent any injury.
The correct method of doing facilitated stretching is that you should first select the muscle that you would like to stretch and then perform the stretch only up to a level where you can feel comfortable. Further the facilitator whom you have engaged to do the job of facilitating your stretching can hold your knee so that you can exert pressure with your leg to get your target muscles stretched uniformly.
A yet another thing that you should learn in facilitated stretching is the importance of your regulated breathing and you should take a deep breath as you keep stretching your muscles. Further, you should also learn the techniques of deep breathing and you should be able to control your deep breathing in such a fashion that it will help in your proper blood circulation.
The person whom you select as a facilitator will assist you in providing the necessary resistance, the key requirement of any stretching exercises. For instance, while you do the stretching part you can make your facilitator to hold your leg against his or her shoulder and for your information this is one of the important features of isometric stretching.
Many people use facilitated stretching as an integral part of their regular workout schedules and if you are willing you can also make facilitated stretching as your daily routine and for this purpose you can talk to one of your friends or even your partner to do the job facilitator as well as a personal trainer. Once you learn the related techniques you are sure to find facilitated stretching a wonderful exercise form and you can make it as your lifestyle change too.
[tags]Stretching Exercise, Muscle Relaxation, Assisted Stretching[/tags]