Alex Larsson’s Flexibility Challenge is your first home stretching program that I have tried and found to be quite effective. It was created by one of the most sought out trainers for flexibility, Alex Larsson. He’s the strength and conditioning specialist for the California Angels baseball team. He’s been a student of Dr. Robert McKenzie for more than 20 years. In actuality, he has transformed many of his athletes over the years. This is his fifth yearly flexibility challenge.
The concept of the Flexibility Challenge is simple. You take a yoga or Pilates class, then execute specific stretching exercises, designed to elongate and strengthen your soft tissue. Each class is split into eight weekly sections and there are certain exercises to target your soft tissue especially. For the most part, the classes are self paced, so there is no instructor to push you beyond your limitations.
The Flexibility Challenge works on the exact same basic concepts that all fantastic home stretching programs do. For example, prior to going to the bathroom to relieve yourself, you would perform your positions. In the Flexibility Challenge, each posture was mapped out for you and timed with a series of rings that indicate how long the position should last. You are also expected to maintain proper body alignment throughout the duration of the class. A normal class will last a little over 12 minutes, with about a quarter of the time devoted to stretching exercises.
As soon as you complete the class, you will be given a certificate of completion. Then you’ll receive your very own duffel bag to maintain your toenails safe as you practice at home. Additionally, there are videos and other resources available which may help you keep on your new flexibility challenge week one level up. Some of those resources are free, while others will need a monthly membership fee.
The principal objective of Flexibility Challenge is to increase flexibility. However, this is not just any stretching exercise. This system teaches you how you can integrate stretching exercises with the other elements of an effective home fitness program. So how does Flexibility Challenge accomplish its goal of increasing flexibility?
The key to improving flexibility entails increasing muscle strength through the use of equilibrium and stress relief. So as to finish the Flexibility Challenge, you’ll need to identify and target the muscles of your lower back and shoulders. Both of these muscle groups are involved in stabilizing the spine and transmitting force through the spinal column, pelvis, sacrum, and throat. By strengthening all of these muscles, you’ll be better able to control your pelvis and shoulders and to maintain proper posture.
The second step of the plan involves the use of yoga for a breathing and stretching exercise. The purpose of yoga is to increase flexibility through the integration of breathing and motion. Yoga postures focus on the expansion and contraction of various muscle groups while also controlling internal organs, like the kidneys and intestines. This helps to improve circulation while decreasing internal tension. You can also practice yoga as a self-treatment protocol. You may perform yoga positions for yourself and work to attain greater flexibility in your neck, shoulders, buttocks, and back without the added pain of added fitness machines.
In addition to practicing yoga, it is important to strengthen and stretch all of the muscles of the back including the muscles of the lower abdominals, the transverse abdominis, internal obliques, external obliques, and facet joints. Dynamic stretches involve tightening and loosening of the hamstring, quadriceps, hip flexors, glutei, and groin muscles. Static stretches involve the extension and flexion of the hamstring, quadriceps, hip flexor, and groin muscles. These are effective for both improving your range of motion as well as for strengthening the muscles of the front and side shoulders.