Jump Start January: Week 4: Day 4

It’s Day 4 of Healthy Week – where has the time gone this month? Today we are going to look at flexibility training, and then consider the importance of rest and recovery.

The gentler forms of yoga are excellent for stretching and flexibility. They include Iyengar yoga and Hatha yoga, and there’s probably a reasonably priced class somewhere near to where you live. In the space of less than one month, these types of yoga can make a noticeable difference to your flexibility, whatever your age.

jump start january healthy week stretch

If you don’t fancy attending a yoga class in person, there are many other cheap or free options. Try to do at least 20 minutes of gentle stretching today.

You can try:

  • Borrowing a Hatha or Iyengar gentle yoga DVD
  • Watching yoga tutorials on Vimeo and YouTube
  • Getting a friend who knows yoga to do a skills swap with you

Not everyone likes yoga though, and that’s fair enough. If you aren’t in the mood to do yoga, there are other stretching exercises that you might like to have a go at instead. For example:

  • Many exercise and fitness books contain sections about stretching and increasing flexibility.
  • Various websites have useful tutorials to try, such as this one at The Guardian.

Go into any stretches slowly and gently. Make sure you aren’t over-pushing yourself or straining your muscles and joints.

After you’ve done those all-important stretches, rest up, and consider an early night. The occasional day of rest and relaxation is good for you.

Here at Golightly Gardens I’ll be doing some yoga and pilates stretches, and as I’m not very good at having early nights I’ll be trying to change my ways. If I don’t manage an early night tonight then I’m at least going to have a good try at having a lie-in tomorrow, including breakfast in bed.

What are you going to do to increase your physical flexibility and recovery today? Any free or budget tips for the rest of us?

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There’s also an ebook to go with this series which contains more information, ideas and resources: Jump Start 2013: One small action each day to improve your personal finances and quality of life is available to buy on Amazon. Please buy a copy and help to support this site.

 

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