Stretch of the Week

Tricep Stretch

1. Standing or sitting (with good posture) raise your right hand up over your head

2. Bend the right elbow and grasp your arm just past your elbow with your left hand

3. Pull your right elbow to the left using your left hand so that you feel the stretch in you tricep, your right hand will reach down between your shoulder blades

4. Hold this position for 30 seconds or so

5. Repeat on the other side

Remember not to over do it....

Enjoy.....

Lat Stretch

Cat stretches are a great stretch in any event so good to do just because you can. Here I'm using the cat stretch to get into the right position for a lovely Lat stretch.

1. Kneel on the floor. Place your hands on the floor with your hands directly below your shoulders.

2. Arch your back up like an angry cat, tucking your tail bone underneath you and dropping your head to round out your spine

3. Keep your back rounded and drop your rear to your heels.

Neck Stretch

To add to the collection of stretches, here are some simple ones for your neck to encourage full range of movement. As always, take them gently....

1. Sit tall maintaining good posture, keep your shoulders down and tilt your chin to your chest then bring your head back to looking straight ahead.

2. Sit tall maintaining good posture, keep your shoulders down and tilt your chin to the ceiling, return your head back to looking straight ahead

2 way stretch

A very straightforward stretch this week....

Lie on the floor, take your ams over your head keeping your elbows close to your ears - stretch so that your hands are as far away from your head as they will go - point your toes and stretch right through your core and legs making yourself as tall as possible!

Lovely.....:-)

Trapezius Muscle

Hi there,

This week’s stretch is for your trapezius muscle (large shoulder and upper/mid back muscle) . One of the functions of this muscle is for neck flexibility so tight traps = lack of neck flexibility – as well as this stretch, try a little self massage for your upper trapezius, which is the one located at the top of your shoulders

Calf stretch

I'm back from holiday so here's another one for you......

Standing tall, move your right foot back as far as is comfortable keeping your toes pointing forward and your heel in contact with the floor.

Bend your left knee taking care that your knee doesn't extend over your toes and maintain good posture keeping your head up and your core engaged.

You should feel a stretch in your right calf!

Hold for several seconds then swap legs.....

I'd repeat this 2 or 3 times.

Hip Flexors

Hi there,

For those of you with legs that have a tendency to sink when you swim these stretches for your hip flexors are ideal – tight hip flexors will contribute to dragging you down – so please do stretch them and remember your ankles and toes too!!
As always, please ensure you work within your own range on these stretches. They are not to be forced and over time as you continue to do them, you’ll see improvement in any event. Some of these stretches are quite fierce in any event so make sure you take them steadily into your routines.

Upper Back

Stretch of the Week (6) Hi there, This week is just one stretch but this will of course give you opportunity to continue with the others! Time to stretch out your upper back and separate your shoulder blades; Lift your arms so that your elbows are at around shoulder height or just below, gently link your hands so that your arms form a circle and stretch across your back – as if you were hugging a tree! Hold the stretch for a few seconds each time repeating 3 or 4 times several times during the week. Enjoy :-)

Glutes

Stretch of the Week (4) doesn’t appear to have reached some of you. Maybe this week might just see a double whammy of stretching as you play catch up, check out the Hamstring stretches too!! Glutes this week, here goes……

1. Can you sit cross legged?

Hamstrings

After the fabulous efforts at Salford Tri on Sunday, I’m sure everyone stretched thoroughly and enjoyed a proper cool down – or something like that :0

Perhaps good stretches for this week would therefore be hamstrings. Give them a go and let me know how you get on – as always don’t force the stretches, if you don’t do them already, over time you’ll see improvement anyway so no need to go too mad.

1. Seated hamstring stretch

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