Here's an easy 6-minute routine that you can use to improve your flexibility.
You're needing a theraband, so a stretchy band for this.
It's suitable for all ages,
just remember to take it easy, listen to your body,
don't push past any pain.
My name's Claire, I'm a physiotherapist from PhysioFit Health.
Starting off, you're gonna hold the band just a little bit wider than shoulder-width,
you're standing up nice and tall, pulling the hands apart a little bit so you just get
a little tension on the band.
As you're breathing out, you're gonna bring these
arms up and over and then you are breathing in to return.
So you're starting off nice and slow
just to begin with, see how these shoulders are feeling.
If you want more of a stretch, you can hold that band just that little bit
closer together and you'll find that it gives you more of a stretch of the shoulders
but you're only going as far as you're comfortable, don't push into any pain.
OK, keep the arms up and then you can go for a side-bend
So you're leaning over to your right and to your left,
so you should get more of a stretch down the side of the body.
You can then lean over to the right
and you can pull down on that right hand. So leaning over to the left
you're pulling over on that left hand.
So just do a couple where you're
just putting a little bit of extra effort in with one of the arms and
then another addition, another variation, you can keep leaning over to the right
keep the band just in front of you and then it's that top hand that you're
gonna bend the elbow and then straighten the elbow.
So it takes you more into your triceps .
So you can do 4 or 5 reps. Lean over to the other side pull on that
left hand and then it's your right elbow that you were gonna bend and straighten.
So just gets these triceps working a little bit.
Once you've done your 4 or 5,
you're gonna bring yourself back up to centre and then you can do a really nice
rotation round to the right so - arms, shoulders, hips, everything can be just
getting a nice rotation.
So you're just going to do a few repetitions of that
and then you want to just rotate the upper body, so keep those hips facing
forwards and then it's just the arms and upper body rotating around to the right and left.
So a little bit more challenging but as you are rotating
round to the right you're trying to push that right hip fowards,
and as you are rotating around to the left, you're just trying to counter it
with pushing that left hip forwards.
All right - pop the band around the back of your body,
so you start with your elbows tucked in and your palms are facing up to the ceiling,
so just get you holding the band, as it lies in this position.
Squeezing your shoulder blades together, you're breathing out - you're gonna bring
these arms forwards and then bring them out to the side.
Return to your start position so you're just gonna breathe out,
get a really nice chest stretch and breathing in.
So just do a few stretches this way
and you can add your rotation.
So bring these arms out nice and wide
and then you can add your rotation round to your left and to your right.
So again you can go - arms, shoulders, hips - but then you want to keep these hips facing forwards
and then you just want to rotate the upper back, so in this way you're
just trying to dissociate between moving upper back and lower back.
So that should have got your arms and upper body working and then you can pop the band
under your right foot.
So standing up nice and tall, you can bend the elbows
just so you get the band on a bit of tension, you're going to bring that right knee up
and then you're going to push it back down again.
So depending how you feel,
you can tie the band and just make it a little bit more tension on it,
it just helps bring that foot up and down.
and then you can keep that leg nice and
straight and you can start with little circles of the foot but then you can
make into wider circles.
So you're just using the band to help you rotate and support the foot
Rotate in the opposite direction - a nice circle
and then you can bring that knee up
keep the thigh parallel to the floor and
then you're trying to straighten your knee and bend it.
So this one gets more into a bit a hamstring stretch
and it's also gonna challenge your balance and
then you're gonna swap legs over, so start with your left foot,
bending these elbows and then you can use the band just to help bring that knee up and down.
Just do a few of these and then you can get that leg nice and straight so you
start off with circles of the leg, make them small to begin with and then nice
and wide and then you can go opposite direction.
So we should be getting these
hips warmed up and then you can bring that knee up so, the thigh, aim to be parallel
to the floor and then you are going to straighten your knee and bend your knee.
Gets you more into your hamstrings. Gets your balance as well.
All right, after four or five of those that should be the legs warmed up and then lastly you
can pop the band just to one side.
So you've got an imaginary wall that you're
stood behind so you've got your hips, shoulders, and head against it.
You are gonna take that head off, so tuck the chin in, peel the upper back off and then
the lower and then you are reaching down as far as you are comfy, before rolling
yourself back up in reverse.
If you want you're breathing - so you're gonna breathe
out as you roll all the way back down and you are breathing in as you are returning.
Do two more of those and then you are done.
So that's your stretchy band workout.
Give me a shout if you've got any questions.
If you haven't already watched them
we have a few other videos explaining what we mean by flexibility,
why it's important and how you can improve on your flexibility.