Flexibility Goals for 2009

The next component to consider for my 2009 goals is flexibility. From my baseline data I found that I am pretty flexible except through my shoulders. So I need to focus on this area as well as lower back and hips - which are typically a problem as you age. With this in mind, I need to do stretching for all the major muscle groups, with focus on shoulder, lower back and hips as well as pay attention to my body alignment and posture while lifting weights and doing daily activities (sitting at the computer, walking, getting up from a chair). Putting this all together, I am planning to do the following (keep it SMART):

• At the gym I will make sure that I am align correctly on my cardio machines--set the seat and handle bars correctly from my height on the stationary bicycle; keep upright on the stairmaster and balance rather than use the hand rails; keep my running posture and stride appropriate for my speed and ability.
• After my cardio work, I will do dynamic stretches for the muscles groups I am working that day (about 5-10 minutes). During my weight workouts, I will do static stretches as passive recovery between sets. At the start of each set of exercises, I will review body alignment and posture throughout the range of motion being careful to use the correct amount of resistance (too much weight results in shorter range of motion and targets the strongest part of the movement rather than training the weakest link)
• Each evening do 15 minutes of relaxing stretching prior to going to sleep.
• Attend a Yoga class 1 or 2 times/week

At the end of 6 months, I will assess my flexibility again and review my posture for improvement of 10% (long-term goal); my intermediate goal is to meet the requirements above for the next month 90% of the time. My immediate goal is to do my evening stretches this week. My backup goal is to maintain my current flexibility baseline measures.

YWeight?: My Goals for 2009