To avoid muscle and joint injury, it is important to carry out warm up and stretching exercises prior to any fitness training workout. There are some other points to remember as well that can ensure a safe and enjoyable workout. To increase your flexibility and to avoid injuries, stretch before and after workout. Almost everyone knows that stretching before workout prevents injuries, but only a few people know that stretching after workout, when muscles are still warm, can increase flexibility.

For most warm-ups it is quite acceptable to hold a stretching position for twenty seconds but to really extend the muscles groups and joint flexibility, this should be lengthened to one minute. It is not advisable to stretch and then relax straight away but to return to the original position slowly. By hold the stretched position for several seconds, and then slowly relaxing means you can do this exercise repeatedly, but bouncing or forcing yourself into a position during stretching can strain or damage some joints or muscles. Do not jump from an easy stretching exercise to a hard one, but complete the easiest first and do the hardest last as by this time most of your muscles will be warm and it will make the difficult exercise easier.

Injuries to the neck can be common because most people neglect warming it up; the easiest way to carry this out is by using the palm of your hand, alternate placing pressure from on the forehead to the back of the head and then the sides. Stretching should also take place during any fitness training workout as well to keep the muscles and joints flexible especially prior to an exercise that may be strenuous on particular areas of the body. Do not overstretch your self performing exercises you are not yet ready for just because there are others who can as this will cause further problems; work to your own pace. Do not expect your body to be able to carry out the same exercises and level of training every time you go to the gym because some days you will have a better workout than others; this is perfectly normal and to be expected.

It is normally advised you don’t work the same muscle groups consecutively for two days when fitness training as muscle grows during the period when you rest and not when you are working out. Increasing your lung capacity, which means you won’t get out of breath so easily and heart improvement exercises like walking, running and rowing for instance are the best to start with and you will find weight machines much easier to use. It is well known that music makes exercise easier as the beat is something you can follow and these days the tiny mp3 players can be attached without too much bother. Stretching is good for you even if you are not performing it before exercise and many people use it for relaxation purposes prior to sleep. Stretching your body is a form of exercise in itself and a pleasant way to relax at the end of a hard day so it is worth doing regularly even if you do not want to workout.

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