A good fitness routine should be comprised of three main ingredients; strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, and flexibility training. There are more than a few ways to tackle each of these three areas. Along with a good diet, a good fitness routine focusing on all three components of health will not only produce an attractive physique but it will make you feel great. It should be pointed out that all three areas are necessary for health where often times one if not more of these fitness pillars is ignored in many programs.

The area most often overlooked is that of flexibility. You dont have to do yoga every day to have a good flexibility plan. All it requires is 10 minutes at the end of your other workouts a few times a week. It is best to stretch at the end of your workout when you muscles are warm and pliable. If you are new to stretching I would suggest starting with one simple stretch and concentrate on doing it well. Once you understand how to stretch you will be able to apply this approach to any position moving forward.

Touching Your Toes:

This is a simple position we are all familiar with doing. Some of us can touch our toes, some of us have lost the ability. If you dedicate yourself to getting better at this position it wont be too long before you surprise yourself with just how flexible you have become.

The first thing to understand is that stretching is about relaxing. It is the tension that our body holds that most often prevents us from being more flexible. Stand and bend over to touch your toes. You shouldnt push to get as far as you can at first, rather hang over and try to relax each and every part of your body. As you hang go through a checklist and see if you are relaxed. Is your face relaxed? Is your neck? Are your arms just hanging?

Remember to breathe deeply as you cannot relax if you are holding your breath. Breathe deep into your abdomen. You also need to have relaxed breathing; do not force the air into your abdomen. If you allow your body to calm down it will breathe deeply on its own. Again, if you allow your body to calm down your muscles will relax and slowly you will become more and more flexible.

Getting back to your checklist, run through each of your vertebrae and see make sure none of the muscles in your back are holding any tension. Do the same for your glutes, your hamstrings, your quadriceps and your calves. Continue to breathe deeply. This first attempt should take between 3 to 5 minutes.

Now very slowly begin to stand upright by stacking each of your vertebrae one at a time until you are standing up. Now read your body. Do you feel much calmer than when you were only a few minutes prior? It is a difficult practice for many of us who are used to living stress-filled, fast-paced lives. This is the real lesson; learning to clear your mind, blocking out everything else in life, and just allowing your body to return to a state without tension.

Okay, now do it all over again and try to become even more loose, more at peace, and more relaxed. Before rising out of this stretch give one or two reaches to see how far you can reach. The trick is to reach without getting tense.

So remember your flexibility training along with strength and cardiovascular conditioning will give you a great fitness routine. Stick to a good diet and you will surprise yourself at how good you feel. Who knew getting into shape could feel so good?