BODY FLEXIBILITY

The Courage to Enhance Your Posture and Movements!

Body flexibility is the range of motion around a joint; meaning, the body's ability to move joints throughout their full range of motion, thus increasing muscle-usage and overall physical mobility.Body flexibility is the general ability to swiftly move body joints while harmoniously coordinating the use body muscles through the entire rage of motion. Suppleness and flexibility in the joints can help reduce injuries in all types of exercises, and enhances balance and physical coordination. Regular flexibility exercises lubricate and strengthen the muscles, joints and ligaments, leading to improved relaxation and range of motions.

• Promotes relaxation and muscular coordination
• Reduces stress and fatigue
• Increases blood circulation throughout the body
• Relaxes sore muscles and reduces stiffness
• Diminishes risk of injury
• Enhances body movements
• Increase the body's energy levels
• Promote overall well-being of the body and mind
• Improves posture

How to Improve Your Flexibility?
To improve your flexibility, choose sports that lengthen the muscles such as swimming, martial arts or a basic stretching workout from Master Moves, Yoga or Pilates. Alternatively, consider joining classes on tennis and dancing.

Many people are unaware of the fact that the order in which you perform your stretching exercises is important. Quite often, when we perform a particular stretch, it actually stretches more than one group of muscles: the muscles that the stretch is primarily intended for, and other supporting muscles that are also stretched but which do not receive the "brunt" of the stretch.

Ideally, stretching should be done daily. Realistically though, most people do not have the patience to stretch every day. A good goal is to aim for 3 to 4, 15 to 20-minute flexibility sessions per week. Each stretch that you do should be done slowly and held for 5 to 30 seconds. One way of doing this is to hold the stretch at the point of tightness for about 20 seconds and then push beyond this point (i.e. to the point just before discomfort) for 10 extra seconds.

How to measure Your Flexibility?
To measure body flexibility especially of the lower back and the backs of the upper legs try the Master Moves Body Conditioning. If you can perform all the exercises comfortably, your body flexibility is good. Your next level is to achieve optimal flexibility. This will require the practice of the Master Moves Body Flexibility program. With daily practice, you can achieve optimal body flexibility in 3 months.

How to prevent injuries?
By keeping your whole body toned and flexible, you can prevent injuries ranging from aches and pains to serious joint damage. When your body is more flexible, it is better able to respond to the occasional over extensionor sudden twisting movement that might happen in the course of practicing sports, dancing or daily activities.

Not surprisingly, lower body flexibility is the key to preventing most running injuries. Runners should work on ankle, calf, hamstring, quadriceps, hip, groin, and IT band flexibility. Flexibility for running is important for two reasons: to prevent injury and to allow for a full range of motion to generate maximum speed. While flexible athletes are not always the fastest runners, inflexible athletes are quite often injured runners. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain at least a minimum amount of flexibility.

How to enhance your body movements?
In the practice of sports, you need to be prepared not only for the movements you expect to perform, but for the unexpected as well. Each individual has unique goals, personal preferences, conceptual metabolism abilities, and genetic make-ups qualities. To achieve the best physical performance with sports, you must enhance and sustain your body flexibility. Body flexibility will enhance your body movements and should reduce the incidence of injuries.

Your New Body is Here!

Losing weight and keeping it off is a real challenge for most people. That's why it's important to begin a weight loss program with the help of fitness professional. We can help you find ways to decrease calories but still consume the foods you enjoy. We can suggest daily exercises to help you change old habits for new ones. It's important to remember that losing even a relatively small amount of weight can make a real improvement in reducing your risk for diabetes and other serious conditions.

There are three universal principles that apply to anyone:
balance, moderation and consistency.

With all the different exercises programs and diets out there right now, it's easy to become confused about what to eat. Pick up almost any magazine and you will find an article on dieting or food. What I find astonishing is that everybody seems to have a different answer. Who do you believe? Everybody is different, so I cannot answer that question. But I believe there are three universal principles that apply to anyone: balance, moderation and consistency. For instance, when we talk about following a diet: Balance means getting the right combination of protein, carbohydrates, and fat in your meals. Moderation means eating the correct quantity of food required by your body to perform with great efficiency. Consistency means developing the discipline to follow your diet on a daily basis.

Balance

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy; they should be carefully selected and included in each meal. The average diet has too many refined carbohydrates. Technology has increased the degree to which foods are refined, and the result is too much low-fibre, high carbohydrate food. Eat more unrefined carbohydrates such as whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits. Eat fewer refined carbohydrates such as flour and sugar.

Protein

Most people tend to neglect their protein consumption. Everyone (not just bodybuilders!) needs protein to survive. Without protein, muscles cannot repair and they begin to break down. Eat more protein from sources like fish, chicken, turkey, and beans. Eat less protein from high-fat sources of red meat and dairy products.

Fat
Fat is essential. In the quest for a low-fat diet, we have forgotten about essential fatty acids (EFA's), which are the "good" fats. EFA's are responsible for numerous bodily functions. The "bad" fats are the saturated fats; they are responsible for heart disease and high cholesterol. Eat more EFA's from sources like fish, nuts, seeds, and olive oil. Try to eat fewer saturated fats from sources like butter, sunflower oil, and cheese. When one of the above nutrients is missing or in excess, it creates an imbalance. Finding a balance among carbohydrates, protein and fat is a personal process. Some people have a higher metabolic rate and need more energy from carbohydrates and fat. Others need fewer carbohydrates because they have a sluggish metabolism. Experiment with different ratios, but as a general rule, eat more carbohydrates than protein.

Moderation

The massive quantity of food available makes it very easy to overeat. You have to learn to eat portions that are the right size for your needs. A professional athlete that trains every day for hours will need a lot more food than someone who sits at a desk all day. Eat only until you feel satisfied, not to the point of feeling "stuffed". Remember that your body requires only enough food to meet its energy requirements; anything else is excess calories. With this simple fact in mind, eat portions that are consistent with your weight goals. Eat less if you are trying to lose body fat, and eat more if you are trying to gain muscle. Remember to maintain balance, do not cut out all the fat in your diet in order to eat less.

Consistency

Applying the principles of balance and moderation to your meals is useless unless you apply them with consistency. Developing a lean, healthy body is a long-term process that requires discipline. If you eat a moderate, balanced diet only sometimes, it is almost impossible to make improvements in your health and fitness. This does not mean that you can never eat candy again. It just means that you should make them an occasional treat. The key is to maintain balance and moderation in the long-run.

Finding YOUR eating plan is a process of trial and error. I am confident that if you follow the principles of balance, moderation and consistency, you will succeed.