6 yoga substitutes for the most common gym pre-exercise stretches
Common pre-exercise stretches and their more effective yoga alternatives. 1. Side neck stretch There are two problems with this stretch: 1. It is static and 2. It only involves the neck. Your neck doesn’t sit on top of your shoulders as a separate entity, it is linked to your spine, rib cage and shoulder blades via muscles, not to mention the connective tissue that links it to the rest of the body. So to make the neck stretch worth your while you need to move your cervical spine, your thoracic spine and your arms ( read more about working with neck tension ). The easiest way to adapt this stretch is to coordinate the movement of the head and the arm while keeping your spine in a slight side bend. HOW-TO: Bend sideways to your right. On the inhale move your left arm over the head in a side sweeping motion and look up (now the entire area between your left shoulder and your left ear is contracted). Exhale: sweep the arm down and behind your hip, while turning your head to ...