Recovery is a huge part of the Fitness Quadrant. Out of the four quadrants it is the one that we spend the most time in. Most of our time is spent resting, recovering and regenerating from the stimulus of our exercise, so we can grow healthier in this R quadrant. It is in this quadrant that we will do everything possible to enhance our success by stimulating the growth of fat burning lean muscle, and for many of you getting healthier as you replace the lean muscle that was lost from Sarcopenia and excess dieting - to get back to the way you were when you were younger and leaner. Effective techniques are explained in detail from sleep to stretching! Stretching is movement, but it is not exercise, as it does not fatigue our muscles nor does it involve using and depleting glucose or glycogen. It is relaxing, and we actively use it for recovery as well as relieving tensions built up after exercise. When we stretch we never trying to make our minds a blank using passivity, but rather we get the most out of it by deliberately thinking positive constructive thoughts that are relative to our stretches.

Stretching is the opposite of contracting, as it is relaxing so it is part of our R (Recovery) Quadrant. Stretching poses provide a sense of body balance for it completes it's opposite – exercise (contracting). The opposite of a stretch is a contraction (Anaerobic exercise). To be complete and balanced, both are required. Together they are synergisticly more effective than only doing one alone.

Our stretching program is based on the wisdom gained from thousands of years of human experience. It utilizes self induced static stretching (not passive with external help from another person , nor ballistic stretching which some athletes use involving bouncing).  Stretching is meant to be the opposite of exercise. Exercise gives the body the needed tensions the body needs involving muscular contractions, but stretching is the opposite as it relaxes the body and removes tensions. Exercise could be called “contracting” as stretching is descriptively called “stretching”.

You may find that feel as if you have more energy after the stretch routine as tense muscles are now relaxed, and without tight muscles sapping our energy we feel more relaxed and energetic.

   We use the concept of balance by dividing stretching the body into sections – front (anterior), rear (posterior), side (lateral) and twist (circumduction). Although a stretch phase is performed during and after our balanced A Quadrant Anaerobics, we can still stretch in between workouts, and we should evenly stretch all of our body sections, and we stretch in a certain direction as we move along a plane. As mentioned previously, since most civilized humans are stronger in the front (anterior) and weaker in the rear , or back (posterior), we must not only do load bearing exercises involving contractions on all areas of the body to attain a sense of lean balance, we must also stretch all sections of the body evenly.

 In addition to generally stretching our bodies in the directions of Forwards, Backwards, Sideways and Twists, we also think in terms of stretching our spines within the five ways that our spines move, Flexion (spine bends forward), Extension (spine bends backward), Lateral Flexion (spine bends sideways), and Axial Rotation (spine rotates). These spinal movements are all performed naturally within daily activities and movements, but there is a fifth way the spine moves, and it must be performed intentionally to be achieved: Axial Extension (spine lengthens as the primary and secondary curves are reduced). Axial extension is achieved in some stretch poses and also in some Anaerobic exercises, such as Lateral Pull downs for example.

  These stretches are best done in a static procedure, which means we do them ourselves without the help of someone else (which would be called passive stretching). A main idea here is to never force these stretches. If you find that you are very stiff then explore easy variations by researching yoga and stretching books, websites, and also considering consulting with an expert such as a Personal Trainer. In most stretches, we are performing them with our spine in alignment in what’s called a Neutral Spine, similar to anatomical position. Listed here in this book are seven basic stretches with an example given for each directional movement. Not all of you due to individual limitations will be able to perform all of  the example stretches given here, but grasp the main idea that we should strive to stretch our bodies in all of these directions, even if some of them are not possible at first. We will also put them in an order that has one stretch leading into the next, which will be the accurate arrangement of these stretches.

Here is what you will get when you purchaseThe Fitness Quadrant book. Following is a list of the Table Of Contents from this section of The Fitness Quadrant book: