Little Joe Fitness
Page #1
Hey, everybody, my name is Little Joe Fitness and I love to run, jump, play and do it
right! In this book, we’re going to learn what ‘stretches’ are, how to do them , and how
many times to do them per week. At the end of this book, you’ll get Little Joe Fitness
stickers and an award that you can have for the rest of your life.
RUN ! JUMP! PLAY!
Before we start, I want you to meet my group the Little Joe Fitness Company(Team)
Page #2
Hey, my name is Carla! I want to be a doctor and help sick people all over the world!
Hi, my name is Juan! I love to exercise! When I grow up Im’ going to be an author.
Page#3
I’m Tony! I’m going to be the greatest coach of all time!
Hello, I’m Amy!
I’m gong to be a marathon runner and a chef!
Page #4
Muscles make your body move!
Here is a picture of Tony, with arrows and names pointing to the ‘muscles’ of the body.
Muscles are all over you body and under your skin.
Page #5
Look at those Muscles!
This is what your muscles look like inside your body.
Page #6
It’s very important to stretch your muscles so that you can play or do anything without
hurting yourself. Stretching makes your muscles grow longer and stronger. It prepares
muscles for activity, and it feel so good! Before we stretch, we must first ‘wrm-up’ or
muscles. Warming up raises our body temperature and loosens our muscles.
Let’s join Juan doing his favorite warm –up jogging. Jogging is running slowly and
warms up your whole body.
(Jogging for 5-10 minutes is a great warm up, so is a game of tag!)
Page #7
Juan loves to run and play tag…. So does Amy who tried to tag him.
Page #8
A second warm-up is ‘ Jumping Jack’s. Jumping Jacks are also a great activity to warm
up all the muscles ready to warm up all of the muscles in your body. This gets your
muscles ready to be stretched (or lengthened) so you don’t have to stop playing because
you hurt yourself! Let’s join Carl doing ‘jumping jacks’!
Stat by standing up straight.. Jump up and clap your hands over your head. Do this 10
times.
Don’t you feel like jumping 10 times?
Page #9
Our first stretch is for the hamstrings.
Hamstring are the muscles above the knee on the back side of your leg. Hamstrings help
you run faster.
Sit on the floor with one leg straight and one leg bent. With both hands, try to touch your
toes of the straight leg.
Carla stretches her right hamstrings.
Calra stretches her left hamstrings.
Note: stretch each hamstring for 10 seconds(10 Mississippi count*)
Page #10 Here Carla and Little Joe are stretching their ‘quadriceps’ muscles.
Quadriceps are also good for running, jumping and stretching.The are on the front side of
the leg and above the knee.
Little Joe stretches his right quadriceps with his friend, Juan. Put one hand on your
friends shoulder and stand on one leg, with your other hand hold your foot.
Keep both knees close together.
(hey, Carla, how are those quadriceps feeling?)
(Really good Little Joe thank you for asking!)
Carla stretches her left quadriceps using a wall. So she doesn’t fall down/over.
Put one hand on the wall, bend your other leg and grab your foot with your other hand.
Keep both knees close together.
Note: stretch both right and left quadriceps for a 10 second or “Mississppi” count.
Page #11
The lower part of the back of your leg is called the ‘calf’.
Juan is here to do a calf stretch.
Amy cheers Juan on!
(Go, Juan stretch that calf) Right calf stretch: put both hands up on the wall. Bring your
right leg back and keep it straight. Bring the left leg forward and bend your knee. Stay
there for a 10 mississippi count.
(wow, my right calf feels very warm!)
Left Calf Stretch:
Put both hands up on the wall.
Bring your left leg back and keep it straight. Bring the right leg forward and bend your
right knee. Stay there for a 10 mississippi count.
Strong/ warm calves are good for jumping
Page #12
This is a chest , biceps and foream stretch. Your chest muscles arebelow your shoulders
and above your stmach.
Your forearms are between your hands and elbows. Directions Lift your arms to
shoulder level. Then reach back behind you as far as you can go . Stay there for a 10
Mississippi’s.
(I really feel very wamr in my chest, biceps and forearms. )
Your biceps are between your shoulders and your elbows.
(Yeah, me too little joe!)
This is a side view of Carla doing the same stretch.
Page # 13
Tony is stretching his shoulder muscles.
( hey if you want big , strong, shoulders, stretch them like I do!
Left shoulder stretch:
Pull your left arm across your body and stay there for 10 mississippi’s.
Right shoulder stretch:
Pull your right arm across your body and stay there for 10 mississippi’s.
Page #14
Amy is stretching her triceps muscles. The triceps muscles are on the back of your arm,
between your shoulder and elbow, Triceps are good for pushing things. First she’s
stretching her left triceps.
Left triceps stretch:
Lift you left arm up and bring your left hand in back of your head. With your right hand,
pull your left elbow back. Hold this for 10 mississipppi’s. Then stop and do the right side
triceps. This is a side view.
Right triceps stretch:
Lift your right arms up and bring your right hand in back of your head, pull your left
elbow back, stay there for 10 mississipi’s. This is a side view.
Page #15 You finished!
Now go check off the warm-ups and stretches you’ve completed on your little joe
fitness(ljf) program sheet.
Then high-5 your teammates.
(I feel really good!) Juan
(I feel Stronger!) Amy
(You all, ROCK!
I’m ready to play)Little Joe
(Me too!)Carla
(Good job team!)Tony
You’re ready to play!
Page # 16 Program sheet
Page #17 Glossary
Page #18 Award certificate
Page #19 Closing Page
The Little Joe Fitness company/team invites you to participate in book 2. The little joe
Fitness Strength exercise book by Joel Matalon. We’ll learn how to strengthen those
muscles we stretched in book 1