This weeks focus

As this was my first week my goal is was establish a baseline of my flexibility and start a simple full body stretching routine. By establishing a baseline before I start I will have a clear idea of where my body is at so later on I will be able to track and measure my progress. For this week my focus was on improving hamstring flexibility and lower body.

What I did

This week I started with beginner friendly stretches, I held these stretches for 30-45 seconds and repeated twice on each side. I aimed to do these stretches and this routine for 10-15 minutes per day:

• Standing hamstring stretch: Stand with feet hip width apart, hinge at hips, reach for toes.
• Seated forward fold: Sit with legs out, hinge forward as far as comfortable, reach for toes or lay hands comfortably on legs.
• Low lunge: Put one foot forward into lunge position, lower hips until your leg is at 90 degrees, rest back knee on the floor. Repeat on Both sides
• Cat-Cow Pose: On hands and knees, alternate between rounding and arching back.

Reflection

When I did these stretches for the first time this week my hamstrings felt very tight. With my standing hamstring stretch I was not able to touch my toes without bending my legs significantly, my back was also very arched which should be avoided. During my seated forward fold I wasn’t able to put my hands father than my knees and once again my back was very arched. These stretches did get a bit easier throughout the week but I hope in the future I will be able to do these stretches with a straight back aswell as be able to touch my toes comfortably.

Resources I used

https://www.verywellfit.com/hamstring-stretches-2696359

With being a beginner the following this website was very helplpful in giving step by step instructions and visuals on how to do each stretch properly without injury as I didn’t know how to do most just by the name.

Next Week’s Plan

For next week I plan on focusing on hip flexibility with more targeted stretches towards that area.