For the summer challenge
this year you need to do:
·
Daily: Exercise for at least 20 minutes, plus a five
minute warm-up, and a five minute cool-down.
·
Daily: Keep a food journal
·
Stretches
·
Weekly:
Have a “date” night with a friend or family member (report on Fridays)
·
Six-week: Complete a service project (reported at the
end of the Challenge)
For the daily
challenge of exercising for 30 minutes you could use stretches for the warm-up
phase and the cool-down phase.
·
Passive
stretches are gravity stretches, or use of a partner. You can do these without warming up first. Gravity
assisted is done by using the force of gravity against a limb. Like when you stretch you’re back lying back
over an exercise ball. Or the use of a partner to stretch another’s limb in an
attempt to gain greater range of motion.
·
Active
stretches are those that stretch the muscles while using opposing muscles to
complete the movement. This type of
stretching helps increase flexibility and strengthens the muscles. A good example of this is yoga.
·
Resistance
stretching uses tension on the muscle. When
the muscle goes from a shortened, contracted position to a lengthened one while
under some kind of load. An example of this is the “lowering” phase of a
dumbbell curl.
Starting your
exercise with five minutes using a passive stretch, will help warm up your
muscles and reduce injury, in preparation for your 20 minutes of the cardio
exercise of your choice. Follow up your
cardio with five minutes of some passive or resistance stretches, to help
elongate and release your muscles.
Good luck on the Summer
Challenge for 2013.
