Transcript Strong Muscles, Healthy Body

Fit and Flexible
Get Moving Kentucky!
Moving for Health Lesson Series
The development of the HEEL program was made possible by Senator Mitch McConnell with funds earmarked for the University of Kentucky, College of
Agriculture, Lexington, KY and budgeted through the CSREES/USDA Federal Administration.
The Importance of Flexibility
• Perform daily activities easily:
– Bending
– Reaching
– Sitting
– Standing
• Mobility and maintaining
independence
What is Flexibility?
• Moving a joint through its full range of
motion
• Related to 3 main factors
– Age
– Gender
– Physical activity
Stretching
• Improves flexibility
• Include in daily physical activity routine
• Use as a method for waking in the
morning
• Use for relaxation at night
The Warm up
• An absolute must before stretching!
• Increases body temperature and blood
flow
• Makes stretching easier and safer
• Warm up at least 5 minutes before
stretching
• Stretching a “cold” muscle could cause
injury
Stretching Guidelines
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3 days per week
All major muscle groups
Each stretch 3 – 5 times
Hold for 10 to 30 seconds
Ease into stretch and hold
Keep joints relaxed
Should not be painful!
Unsafe Stretching
• Avoid stretches that stress knees and
neck
– Squatting position or catchers position
– Plow stretch
Other Ways to Increase
Flexibility
• Martial arts
• Dance
• Yoga
• Pilates
Summary
• Maintaining flexibility as you age is
important to your fitness and your health
• Stretching, martial arts, dance, yoga, and
Pilates can all increase flexibility
• Do stretching or flexibility training at least
3 times per week.
Sources
• Bookspan, Jolie, Health & Fitness in Plain English, Monterey:
Healthy Learning: 2002.
• Heyward, Vivan H., Advanced Fitness Assessment & Exercise
Prescription, 3rd ed., Champaign: Human Kinetics, 1998.
• The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Exercise:
The Key to the Good Life available online at
http://www.fitness.gov/activelife/pepup/pepup.html
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health
Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging –
Exercise: A Guide from the National Institute on Aging (2001)
pages 45-54, available online at
http://www.niapublications.org/exercisebook/ExerciseGuideComplet
e.pdf
Contact your local
County Extension Office
for more information
Visit the current HEEL Web-site at:
www.ca.uky.edu/heel
This information is provided by the H.E.E.L. Program. Health Education through Extension Leadership (H.E.E.L.) is a partnership among the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service, Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and the University of Kentucky College of Public Health.
Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.