Tips to remember while stretching: the goal of stretching is to lengthen muscle after training exercise and to improve tissue elasticity and flexibility. If done properly, it prevents the body from any injury and increase overall flexibility.
Begin with gradual mobility of the joints and always warm up before stretching to prevent injury.
After an exercise, slowly bring down your heart rate before you begin stretching in order to avoid cramps and dizzy spells
While stretching, remember to breathe because holding your breathe during stretching make it difficult to hold the stretch for long.
If you feel like you are not getting a good stretch, call for an assistant or start the stretch over again.
If you do stretch to one arm or leg, do it for the other one. Think symmetry.
If you feel any severe pain during stretching, stop the stretch and move your body position into a better one.
5 type of stretches.
Hamstring stretch: keep your chest up and maintain a curvature in your lower back. Do not allow the knee on the stretched to bend up.
Lunges stretch: keep your knee aligned, front knee over your shoe and the back knee pointing down. Your chest has to be straight up during the stretch. Keep your knee at a 90⁰ and make sure your whole body is facing forward. This lunge could be done with dumbbells or without. Hand can be place by the waist during the stretch.
Squat jumps: stand with feet shoulder width apart. Start by doing a regular squat, then engage your core and jump up explosively. When you land, lower your body back into the squat position.
Plank stretch: stay flat on your stomach and later go into a push-up position. Then place your elbows on the floor but make sure your feet is still in a push-up position. Then hold for as long as you want to.
Abductor stretch :( one leg over)-sit on the floor with on leg on the ground and toes pointing upward. Cross the other foot over the knee of the knee of the straight leg, aiming to place that foot flat on the floor. Place the elbow and fore arm of the opposite arm on the bent leg on the bent knee. Breathe slowly pulling the bent knee across your other feet that’s lying on
5 upper body exercises
Bench press: this is an upper body training exercise for strength that consist of pressing weight upward from a supine position. This exercise works the pectoral major as well as supporting the chest, arm, and shoulder muscles. This exercise improves one’s strength which is suitable for a football player because of the strength needed while playing.
The person performing the exercise lies on their back with a weight grasped in both hands. They push the weight upwards until their arms are extended, not allowing the elbows to lock. They then lower the weight to chest level.
A labelled picture that shows the muscle used for bench press. Bench press uses the pectoral major muscle, anterior deltoids and coracobrachialis to horizontally adduct the shoulder.
Bench press is for strength and resistance training for people who play football. The frequency for this has to be between 3-5 times/week.
Set
Reps
Rest(min)
4-10
Less than 6
30-60
Weight Dips: this upper body exercise work for strength. Doing this training helps build up the triceps with major synergists being the anterior deltoid, the pectoralis muscles (sternal, clavicular, and minor), and the rhomboid muscles of the back. A football player needs strength to push against his opponent which requires him to use his triceps to push.
The person performing to this exercise can use dumbbell and put them in between his/her leg or dip belt around his/her waist. Mount wide deep bar with oblique grip, arms straight with shoulder above hand. Keep hips and knee bent. And to execute, lower body by bending your arm, allowing elbow to flare out to side. When slight stretch is felt in the chest or shoulder, push body up until the arms are straight.
Triceps, pectoralis major and anterior deltoid are used in this exercise as
