You probably think I'm talking about that thing you do right before you go in for your 6 month check up at the dentist don't you? Whelp, think again - I'm talking about muscle and joint flossing.
Flossing is a conditioning practice, which has been found to be essential for training when someone has myofascial congestion, a history of accidents or occupations that require sitting and/ or repetitive motion of any kind. I bet you nodded your head to almost every one of these conditions didn't you!
Some of the immediate benefits of flossing can be:
reduced pain
increased range of movement
improved performance
injury prevention
reduced post training muscle soreness
improved muscle recovery
On a personal level, I frequently floss my hip flexors and shoulder joints to offset the sedentary routine of the office setting - sitting all day hunched over staring at my monitor. Is that you? If it is, having a sedentary lifestyle mixed with poor posture can actually increase your risk of injury when trying to adopt a new routine for daily activity. Read that again - see, people often blame a new workout routine for injury or acute soreness when it's really about what you are doing the other 15 hours of the day over and over again. That's where the problem actually lies.
A great place to start when looking to get ready for a new exercise routine is to find one or two things you can do daily to improve your mobility and flexibility. Things like flossing, yin yoga or a solid foam rolling "workout" are a few suggestions. Doing this will increase your ability to perform future exercises with better form and technique thus minimizing and/or eliminating the risk for injury all together.