NottHeads - Health & Fitness

Roc Shabazz - Fitness Tip

Stretching is an essential component of an exercise routine. However, recent studies reveal that most people do not incorporate enough stretching exercises into their fitness programs. Here are some helpful stretching exercises to increase flexibility and decrease stress and tension.

Stretch before and after exercising

Prior to working out, it is important to assess the type of fitness activity, activity level and an understanding of which body parts are tight. In general, it is important to stretch the neck, back, torso, hips and legs. We recommend performing the following stretches before working out: Spinal Rolls (straight forward and diagonal - left and right), Standing Side Sways (alternating on each side), Standing Quad Stretches and Standing Calf Stretches. Once your workout is complete, it is extremely important to perform cool down exercises to decrease muscle tension and increase your flexibility. Sample cool down stretches include:Rocking Forward Bends, Hip Openers, Straddle Stretches and Spinal Twists.

Water Hydration - "The Real Roc" - Roc Shabazz

A known fact about water is that the less you drink, the more likely you are to become over trained. Muscles are comprised of over 70% water. A higher protein intake requires more water. Sweating from intense workouts causes you to dehydrate and lose body water. Water is an essential transport mechanism for a vast array of nutrients like vitamins and minerals and even carbohydrates. It serves an important role in all cellular activity. If your water intake is too low, your ability to transport nutrients becomes compromised, muscle fullness decreases and a toxic buildup of ammonia, urea, uric acid and other junk begins to accumulate in your body. At that point, your body's not capable of pushing water into the muscle because too much is pulled out to handle the demands and stresses being placed on it.