The 12 Minute Athlete June Flexibility Challenge

“Get more flexible” is a common goal in the 12 Minute Athlete community. So for our June community challenge, we’re focusing on building flexibility through targeted stretches and mobility work. 

Flexibility isn’t just helpful for stretching into cool-looking poses, although it’s an awesome perk! Improving your flexibility and mobility can help you maintain proper form in your workouts, help your muscles recover faster, and improve your overall posture in your daily life.

If you…

• Want to feel less tight following a workout
• Spend most of your workday sitting at a desk
• Want less back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, etc.
• Have trouble getting through a workout because of tight muscles
• Want to improve your form during workouts
• Feel muscle imbalances when you have extended exercise (like walking, running, and hiking)

…then this challenge is for you!

With this challenge we want to show you why it’s important to stay flexible and how having much mobility can help with other cool skills and exercises.

We’ll give you the tools you need to work on your flexibility for the long run, and you can take whatever stretches you like and add them to your post-workout cool down routine!

What to know before you start the June Flexibility Challenge:

• Although you can certainly get more flexible in a month, the key to long-term flexibility is to stretch a little bit almost every day. Even 5-10 minutes of stretching at the end of every day will make a big difference in your long-term flexibility.
• Each week includes a suggested light warm up – don’t skip this! You can also do the stretching routine after your regular workout, but make sure you’re warm before you do the stretches. It’s important to never go into static stretching completely cold.
• If you really want to up your flexibility game, you can continue the previous week’s stretches as you add on new stretches in time with the challenge. This is a great way to continue to build flexibility in some areas of the body while you start to work on new ones. Remember, flexibility comes with time and practice!

Rules of the June Flexibility Challenge:

• The challenge will run for four weeks, from June 3rd to June 28th. 
• The first week kicks off on Monday, June 3rd.
• We’ll post the weekly focus and instructions for the upcoming week on the blog each Monday.
• You won’t need any equipment for the stretches but ideally you’ll have access to a foam roller for mobility work.
• Aim to complete the recommended exercises three to five times a week.
• Hold each stretch for 45-60 seconds, and do them for 2-3 rounds.
• You can take part in the challenge by posting to our Facebook group or by tagging #12MAflexibility and @12minuteathlete on social media.
• One lucky hard worker will win my favorite foam roller and a signed copy of the 12 Minute Athlete book!

The post The 12 Minute Athlete June Flexibility Challenge appeared first on 12 Minute Athlete.

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