Hello everyone!!
We are going to have incredible weather this week. PLEASE PLEASE do your best to get outside, wear sunscreen, hydrate, and take in all of that Vitamin D from the sun!
This week I would like to talk about warm up’s and stretching. Before every class we always do an active activity that has few instructions and we move our bodies from 5-6 minutes before we begin our lesson of the day. Have you noticed how we never do ‘static’ stretching before? If you play sports or do activities that require movement usually your coach will have you sit in a circle and count to 10 while holding positions. Why is that?
WELL! Let’s think, if we just came to PE after sitting for a long time our bodies are tired, and probably a little sore. I know my back and bottom has been sore sitting at my desk chair at home during this pandemic! If we were to then come to PE and stretch our muscles, they wouldn’t be happy if we were sitting still. Our bodies need to move to get blood flowing to bring oxygen to all of our body. When we move our body dynamically (through running, hopping, skipping, jumping and galloping) we are warming up our bodies and muscles in a way that brings blood all over our body faster. Static stretching (still stretching) is a way for us to increase our flexibility. Dynamic stretching (movement) is a way for us to increase our mobility. Think about the tin man greasing his joints, it’s almost the same. At the end of class, when we have time; I like us to slow down our heart rates, and bring our bodies back to being calm by doing static (still) stretching. I like to wait until after active activity because to help increase our flexibility it makes sense to make sure our bodies are warm before stretching our muscles.
This week I would like you to create your own warm up sequence. We have talked about sequences in our fitness and our gymnastics units. A sequence is an order of movements. I would like you to make a sequence of warm up exercises that help your legs, your core, and your arms! This should take about 10-15 minutes to create. Once you have created your sequence I would like you to try to use your sequence before an active activity. I would also like you to try an activity activity WITHOUT your sequence beforehand. Do you feel a difference? Is your body sore or tight? Is your brain not working fast to connect with your body? Do you feel clumsy?
Here is the link to the exercise library, if you have exercises that aren’t listed here please use those as well!
Try it out!
Next week we have a special lesson dedicated for our sixth grade class, and in two weeks we are going to have a VIRTUAL FIELD DAY!!!!!!
Have an active and healthy week!
Coach Sadie