Heading To The Gym? Check Out These Five Stretches To Ensure You Don't Do More Harm Than Good

Whenever you carry out any form of exercise, it's vital that you stretch fully both before and after a workout.

Beforehand, the stretches warm up your muscles and prepare them for the workout that they're about to go through.

Afterwards, the stretches have the reverse effect, slowly bringing the muscles back to their original state and stopping aches and soreness the following morning (some reports have actually contradicted this, including a research study by Robert Hebert PhD and Marcos de Noronha PhD of the University of Sydney, saying that stretching after exercises doesn't have any major effect - try telling that to any athlete who hasn't stretched properly after an event, however).

One of the issues that a lot of people have is that they don't know exactly how to stretch properly to ensure they don't cause themselves any major harm or pain during and after the exercises.

If you're one of these people, take a look through these five stretches, as they are all fantastic for warming up and cooling down after your work out at the gym.

NB - each of these stretches should be held for between fifteen and thirty seconds and carried out two or three times, depending on the individual.

1. Thigh stretch (front) - stand straight up, facing forward, with your feet slightly apart. Bend your right leg backwards at the knee and use your right arm to hold your toes behind your back. Repeat for the other leg and hold onto a wall or door for support if need be.

2. Thigh stretch (back) - just as important as stretching the front of your thighs is stretching the back of them and to do this lay on your back with your knees slightly bent as if you were about to do a sit up.

Keep your back and left foot flat on the floor and bring your right leg up, keeping it straight and aiming to bring it as close to your chest as possible by using your hands behind your thigh for support and pressure.

Don't overexert yourself here - stop when the back of your thigh feels tight.

3. Calf stretch - standing facing a wall or door about two feet away, put your hands on the door and slowly bring your right leg forward, bending it at the knee and placing it closer to the floor, constantly keeping your left leg straight. You should be in a sort of lunge position. Keep both feet flat on the floor and repeat a few times to stretch your calf muscles.

4. Lower back - lie on your back and bend your knees slightly as if you were to do a sit up. Stretch your right arm out and bend your left at the elbow so it is pointing in the same direction as your right across your chest. Now twist from your waist downwards to the left.

For the reverse, don't forget to change your arms so that they're pointing to the left.

5. Torso - sit down on the floor with your legs out straight, supporting yourself on your arms. Cross your right leg over your left, bend it and bring it up so the outside of your right ankle is at the same level as the outside of your left knee.

Twist your body - including your left arm - from the waist upwards to the right, keeping your right arm in place on the floor to support you.

For more information about joining a gym, Bupa have teamed up with Fitness First http://www.bupa.co.uk/members/asp/members_offers/health/fitness_first/