Flexibility is essential for everyone to help us with everyday life and is not just the domain of sports enthusiasts and professional sports people. Being flexible makes life easier and assists with our general well being. Think how many times you need to bend to pick things up, stretch to reach high places and to lift objects.
If you are finding that you aren't as flexible as you used to be and would like to regain and increase your flexibility there are many ways of doing this. Some of these are outlined below:
Yoga
Originating in India, Yoga is a Hindu philosophy. It is a physical and spiritual discipline and is an excellent form of exercise for flexibility. Yoga, which means yoke, is a system of mental abstraction and abstract meditation. Stretching and breath control are a basic element of yoga and it's a discipline that is usually learnt in a class situation. The Pros of Yoga are that it's a holistic - mind, body & soul exercise. The Cons of this flexibility option is the necessity of attending classes and the associated cost thereof.
Pilates
Pilates is a physical conditioning exercise which strengthens and forms long lean muscle. Emphasis on a strong core is the Pilates philosophy. Developed by German, Joseph Pilates, it is a very popular form of body conditioning and has been made extremely popular by many celebrity endorsements. Pilates originally called his method contrology due to the discipline being focussed on one precise movement and controlled breathing. As with Yoga, Pilates is generally learnt at classes.
Exercise
Even the act of basic exercise and movement will assist you and there are many stretching exercises to help increase your flexibility. You'll see results in a very short time which is always encouraging, however you may find that you reach a plateau without assistance whether that is in the form of a training partner or the use of a flexibility device.
Flexibility Device
Another popular way of retaining or increasing your flexibility is by using a flexibility device such as a stretch band. One of the benefits of using a flexibility device is that it allows you to stretch further than you can on your own but also keeps you in control of the process so you aren't reliant on a stretching partner who may over stretch you by accident. Using a stretch band as your flexibility device has many benefits not the least of which are portability, ease of use and low cost.
Stretchaflex is a simple yet effective flexibility device that enables you to do the splits & achieve maximum flexibility.