The first two fitness types - endurance and strength - focus mostly on the capabilities of your major -muscle groups. Flexibility, however, is in large part about your joints.
The definition of flexibility is simple: it's the range of motion your body can go through. With age, your range of motion naturally decreases. The goal of stretching and other flexibility exercises is to keep your range as wide as possible. 'You have to maintain a certain range of flexibility and mobility,' says Mark Davis of the University of Bristol, because without that, you start restricting your activities. That creates a vicious cycle in which you engage in less activity, further reducing not only your flexibility and mobility but also your strength and endurance. Before you know it, you're grunting just trying to get out of a chair and saying no to invitations to walk or shop because it's just too challenging to bother.
Get stretching - it's one of the easiest and most pleasurable exercises you can do
great advice
Flexibility exercises strive to do a few things. They wash the key parts of your joints - the bones, tendons, ligaments and cushion-like substances between them - with nutrients and blood. They also keep the tendons and ligaments strong and stretchable. And, just as important, they keep the muscles attached to your joints loose and flexible. After all, that's the key function of a muscle: to move your body through constant stretching and compressing.
Stretching, in other words, does a lot of important things. However, it's also one of the easiest and most pleasurable types of exercise there is. And it requires no gear whatsoever.
To stretch a muscle and its related tendons and ligaments properly, you want to get into the extended position slowly, then hold it for up to 2 minutes. This is much different from what many people do, however. Too often, people jerk and pull their muscles, holding the stretch for just a few seconds, if at all. Be patient! By slowly stretching a muscle then holding the stretch for the suggested time, you are maximising the benefits and minimising the chances of injury.
Aim to do flexibility exercises at least twice a week. These include basic stretching, reaching and bending. Activities such as yoga, tai chi and
exercise gear Worth buying
The beauty of exercise is that you need only good shoes and socks to do it. But if you want to go a step further, consider investing in one or more of the following.
A HIGH-QUALITY PEDOMETER This little gadget tracks the steps and miles you walk throughout the day (10,000 steps equals 8km/ 5 miles). Numerous studies find that wearing one is a great motivation to increase your steps. Don't buy the cheapest pedometer; research shows they're not so accurate. You should be able to find a good one for about 20. Health experts are so convinced that a pedometer encourages walking that in many areas the NHS will lend you one as part of the National Step O-meter Programme. Ask your GP, practice nurse or healthy visitor.
A HEART RATE MONITOR The key to aerobic or endurance activities is to get your heart rate up to a certain level and keep it there for 10 minutes or more. Using the breathing-heavy-but-can-still-talk approach generally gets you to the right pace. But if you want a more precise measurement, first determine your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Your target heart rate is between 50 and 75 percent of that. So if you're 50, your target heart rate is between 85 and 130 beats a minute. To monitor their heart rate continuously, athletes and serious excerisers use a heart rate monitor. The typical unit includes a band you wrap around your chest and a wristband or armband that picks up the signals from the chest monitor. It's an easy way to see if you need to increase the intensity - which becomes more important as you get better.
DUMBBELLS Exercise experts have a saying: 'dumbells are smart', That's because they make it difficult to push yourself too hard, thus avoiding injury. They're also flexible and can be used at any time and nearly anywhere. Increasing the weight as you get stronger is as simple as picking up another set of dumbells. You can even buy some that allow you to change the weight by turning a knob, but for durability, choose fixed-weight dumbells. A popular type is hex dumpbells. The ends resemeble hexagons so they don't roll when you lay them down. For travel, you can buy hollow weights that can be filled with water when you're ready to work-out.
AN INFLATABLE EXERCISE BALL As described on next, these exercise balls are terrific when it comes to strengthening core muscles and improving balance. Even just sitting on one when you're at the computer can provide some benefits. Size is important: buy one large enough so your feet are flat on the floor when you sit on it. If you're under 1m 65cm (5ft 5in), try a 55cm (22in) ball; if you're over 1m 89cm(5ft 11in), aim for a 75cm (30in) ball. Everyone else should do fine with a 65cm (26in) ball. Don't inflate it completely; a little give helps with stability.
Pilates provide excellent opportunities for improving your flexibility. The beauty of these is that you can do them anywhere - even when sitting on a plane. But many of your daily activities also provide a good chance to stretch, including:
Waking Stand up and slowly reach for the ceiling. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. First thing in the morning is a perfect time to do a little stretching. In fact, it's perfectly natural. Think of how many animals stretch themselves out after a nap or a night's rest.
Vacuuming As you vacuum, you reach forward, then back. You bend to move things and stretch to reach the corner or under the sofa. You're cleaning, but you're also stretching. Do you have a house full of hard-surfaced floors? You can get the same benefits from mopping them.
Cleanning windows The up-and-down motion of cleaning the windows and the stretching as you stand on your tiptoes to reach the higher parts provide a good flexibility work-out.
Bowing Every time you bend and stretch to bowl the ball or wood, you're extending muscles beyond their usual range. Take advantage of that by completing a few extra stretches while you wait to see how you've done.
Golf Reaching down to pick up your ball, swinging your arms and twisting your body as you move the club head to meet the ball are movements that can help to keep you flexible.
For the best health, you should also do a stretching routine. You can stretch all the major joints with a few simple movements. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds, and in 5 minutes you can do a whole body-stretching sequence, with enormous benefits. As part of 'The full-life fitness routines' that start on previous, you'll see that we ask you to do four stretches a day, focused on a single body area.
fitness type 4
Balance
Balance activities are particularly important for people as they age because good balance helps to prevents falls. Yet each year in Britian one in three people over 65 and half of those over 80 sustain a fall - sometime more than one.
Falls in later life, when bones are more brittle, risk a fracture particularly of the hip. Ninety percent of all hip fractures are due to falling, and although fewer than one in ten falls results in a fracture, given the number of falls, that's a lot of broken bones. And hip fractures are a major cause of disability and loss of freedom - around 40 percent of all care home admissions result from a fall. Worse, falls are the leading cause of death due to injury in people aged 75 and older in the UK.
There are two types of balance: static and dynamic. Static balance involves the ability to maintain your balance without moving, such as standing on one foot. Dynamic balance is the ability to maintain your balance while moving.
The good news is that many forms of exercise already challenge and improve your sense of balance. Examples include tai chi, yoga, dance and even strength-training. If you're an avid exerciser, it's unlikely that you need to do additional balancing exercises - but try some anyway. This is one area of fitness in which there isn't lot of science or precision. Just do things that force you to stay up your feet in awk-ward situations. Here are some ideas.
The definition of flexibility is simple: it's the range of motion your body can go through. With age, your range of motion naturally decreases. The goal of stretching and other flexibility exercises is to keep your range as wide as possible. 'You have to maintain a certain range of flexibility and mobility,' says Mark Davis of the University of Bristol, because without that, you start restricting your activities. That creates a vicious cycle in which you engage in less activity, further reducing not only your flexibility and mobility but also your strength and endurance. Before you know it, you're grunting just trying to get out of a chair and saying no to invitations to walk or shop because it's just too challenging to bother.
Get stretching - it's one of the easiest and most pleasurable exercises you can do
great advice
Flexibility exercises strive to do a few things. They wash the key parts of your joints - the bones, tendons, ligaments and cushion-like substances between them - with nutrients and blood. They also keep the tendons and ligaments strong and stretchable. And, just as important, they keep the muscles attached to your joints loose and flexible. After all, that's the key function of a muscle: to move your body through constant stretching and compressing.
Stretching, in other words, does a lot of important things. However, it's also one of the easiest and most pleasurable types of exercise there is. And it requires no gear whatsoever.
To stretch a muscle and its related tendons and ligaments properly, you want to get into the extended position slowly, then hold it for up to 2 minutes. This is much different from what many people do, however. Too often, people jerk and pull their muscles, holding the stretch for just a few seconds, if at all. Be patient! By slowly stretching a muscle then holding the stretch for the suggested time, you are maximising the benefits and minimising the chances of injury.
Aim to do flexibility exercises at least twice a week. These include basic stretching, reaching and bending. Activities such as yoga, tai chi and
exercise gear Worth buying
The beauty of exercise is that you need only good shoes and socks to do it. But if you want to go a step further, consider investing in one or more of the following.
A HIGH-QUALITY PEDOMETER This little gadget tracks the steps and miles you walk throughout the day (10,000 steps equals 8km/ 5 miles). Numerous studies find that wearing one is a great motivation to increase your steps. Don't buy the cheapest pedometer; research shows they're not so accurate. You should be able to find a good one for about 20. Health experts are so convinced that a pedometer encourages walking that in many areas the NHS will lend you one as part of the National Step O-meter Programme. Ask your GP, practice nurse or healthy visitor.
A HEART RATE MONITOR The key to aerobic or endurance activities is to get your heart rate up to a certain level and keep it there for 10 minutes or more. Using the breathing-heavy-but-can-still-talk approach generally gets you to the right pace. But if you want a more precise measurement, first determine your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Your target heart rate is between 50 and 75 percent of that. So if you're 50, your target heart rate is between 85 and 130 beats a minute. To monitor their heart rate continuously, athletes and serious excerisers use a heart rate monitor. The typical unit includes a band you wrap around your chest and a wristband or armband that picks up the signals from the chest monitor. It's an easy way to see if you need to increase the intensity - which becomes more important as you get better.
DUMBBELLS Exercise experts have a saying: 'dumbells are smart', That's because they make it difficult to push yourself too hard, thus avoiding injury. They're also flexible and can be used at any time and nearly anywhere. Increasing the weight as you get stronger is as simple as picking up another set of dumbells. You can even buy some that allow you to change the weight by turning a knob, but for durability, choose fixed-weight dumbells. A popular type is hex dumpbells. The ends resemeble hexagons so they don't roll when you lay them down. For travel, you can buy hollow weights that can be filled with water when you're ready to work-out.
AN INFLATABLE EXERCISE BALL As described on next, these exercise balls are terrific when it comes to strengthening core muscles and improving balance. Even just sitting on one when you're at the computer can provide some benefits. Size is important: buy one large enough so your feet are flat on the floor when you sit on it. If you're under 1m 65cm (5ft 5in), try a 55cm (22in) ball; if you're over 1m 89cm(5ft 11in), aim for a 75cm (30in) ball. Everyone else should do fine with a 65cm (26in) ball. Don't inflate it completely; a little give helps with stability.
Pilates provide excellent opportunities for improving your flexibility. The beauty of these is that you can do them anywhere - even when sitting on a plane. But many of your daily activities also provide a good chance to stretch, including:
Waking Stand up and slowly reach for the ceiling. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. First thing in the morning is a perfect time to do a little stretching. In fact, it's perfectly natural. Think of how many animals stretch themselves out after a nap or a night's rest.
Vacuuming As you vacuum, you reach forward, then back. You bend to move things and stretch to reach the corner or under the sofa. You're cleaning, but you're also stretching. Do you have a house full of hard-surfaced floors? You can get the same benefits from mopping them.
Cleanning windows The up-and-down motion of cleaning the windows and the stretching as you stand on your tiptoes to reach the higher parts provide a good flexibility work-out.
Bowing Every time you bend and stretch to bowl the ball or wood, you're extending muscles beyond their usual range. Take advantage of that by completing a few extra stretches while you wait to see how you've done.
Golf Reaching down to pick up your ball, swinging your arms and twisting your body as you move the club head to meet the ball are movements that can help to keep you flexible.
For the best health, you should also do a stretching routine. You can stretch all the major joints with a few simple movements. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds, and in 5 minutes you can do a whole body-stretching sequence, with enormous benefits. As part of 'The full-life fitness routines' that start on previous, you'll see that we ask you to do four stretches a day, focused on a single body area.
fitness type 4
Balance
Balance activities are particularly important for people as they age because good balance helps to prevents falls. Yet each year in Britian one in three people over 65 and half of those over 80 sustain a fall - sometime more than one.
Falls in later life, when bones are more brittle, risk a fracture particularly of the hip. Ninety percent of all hip fractures are due to falling, and although fewer than one in ten falls results in a fracture, given the number of falls, that's a lot of broken bones. And hip fractures are a major cause of disability and loss of freedom - around 40 percent of all care home admissions result from a fall. Worse, falls are the leading cause of death due to injury in people aged 75 and older in the UK.
There are two types of balance: static and dynamic. Static balance involves the ability to maintain your balance without moving, such as standing on one foot. Dynamic balance is the ability to maintain your balance while moving.
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