Safe Stretch Stretching is a powerful tool that has many benefits: it can help make movement easier, increase your physical fitness, counter the effects of ageing, improve your posture, reduce stress, ease muscle pain and fatigue and it can help prevent injury from over lifting at work and during sports and other types of exercise. If you are relatively inactive and lead a sedentary lifestyle then stretching helps compensate. Stretching is an important component to staying healthy and supple, it can be done anywhere, anytime and best of all it is free Safe Stretch

Chapter Examples

• 1.3 Techniques for the head, cervical and upper thoracic spine

  
  Part A. 1.3 Chin tuck prone

  Starting position

  1. Lay..
     
     

• 2.0 Chair supported thoracic, lumbar & hip active sidebends

  
  2.0a Lumbar and hip sidebending stretch standing

  Starting..

  
  

• 2.5 Upper Dog - active extension stretches for the shoulders, thoracic and lumbar spine

  
  2.5a Upper Dog extension stretch kneeling

  Starting position

  1. Kneel..
     
     

• 3.1 Spinal twist sitting - active and passive rotation stretches for the shoulders and the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine

  
  3.1a Passive spinal twist seated

  Starting position

  1. Sit..
     
     

• 4.5 Shoulder abductor stretch - passive and post-isometric stretch for the shoulder abductors

  

  4.5 Shoulder abductor stretch

  Starting position

  1. Stand..
     
     

• Abseiling

  Abseiling is the controlled descent down a rock face using a rope. Abseiling mainly involves the lower limb muscles When waking down the rock face or pushing off and returning to the rock face there is strong contraction of hip and knee extensor muscles..

  
  

• Aerobics classes

  Aerobics is a type of exercise that combines rhythmic movement and dance-like exercises with music with the goal of improving flexibility, strength, and cardio-vascular fitness. It is usually performed in a group setting led by an instructor, although..

  
  

• Archery

  Archery is the practice of propelling arrows with the use of a bow to a target. Traditionally, archery has been used for hunting and warfare but it is now a major competitive sport and recreational activity.

  Head flexion and cervical flexion, sidebending..

  
  

• Arm wrestling

  Arm wrestling is a combat sport with two participants. Each participant places the elbow of one bent arm (usually the right) on a table surface and grasps the other participant’s hand. The goal is to pin the opponents forearm and hand onto the table..

  
  

• Batting - Baseball, Cricket, Rounders and Softball

  Batting in Baseball, Cricket, Rounders, Softball requires good spine and shoulder flexibility as well as strength, and skill, and especially good eye, muscle, bat, ball coordination.

  Batting primarily involves a combination of head extension, cervical..