Subscribe RSS FeedMedifast weight loss planI encourage people participating in quick weight loss programs to not only focus on dropping weight but also on developing the whole package. Many people in this single serving society find it easy to neglect very important aspects of their life, in this case specific areas of fitness.
Losing weight may be about eating fewer calories than you burn, but keeping the weight off is about developing an all around healthy body. One of the most neglected but important areas of fitness is your mobility and flexibility.
I see people spending entire workouts on their abs and it makes me cringe. This is time wasted that could be spend doing something important. I am not going to get into a discussion about the pros and cons of doing excessive ab workouts but I will say that your time could be much better spend doing other things, like focusing on your mobility.
Here are a couple areas of focus that can easily cause problems but can also be easily remedied.
Hip Mobility
This is a big one because as we age we tend to move less and our hips will tend to tighten. This can also be caused by sitting behind a desk too long or sitting in a car. Both of which many people spend a lot of time doing. Virtually any type of walking, running, biking, or other form of leg dominate cardio will contribute towards the tightening of your hips. Leg dominate lifting such as squats or lunges will also contribute towards tightness.
Our environment is basically scheming against us to tighten our hips, this means that you need to focus some serious time of hip flexibility exercises.
Hamstrings and Glutes
Closely related to the hip mobility issue and caused by basically all of the same factors the hamstrings and glutes can cause pain virtually anywhere in the body. They will cause the entire posterior chain to tighten up leading to everything from foot pain to neck pain.
There are numerous stretches that focus on the hams and glutes and I would suggest making these a large part of your flexibly work.
Body building or quick weight loss are both look very healthy but carry their share of unhealthy side effects. Lack of flexibility being one of them but also being easy to remedy.
Tags: exercise, keeping the weight off, quick weight loss, stretching exercises