Why You Should Stretch Every Day: Benefits for Your Body

Imagine this – you are not physically very active and then one random day, you decide to go out and play some tennis with friends. You haven’t been stretching either and your muscles feel tight. You will be in a world of agony afterwards – think cramps and aching muscles. This could have been prevented with short amounts of daily stretching. Let us learn why it is good for you.

Why You Should Stretch Every Day

Stretching is not thought of as a necessity in a workout routine. Daily stretching does sound like a long stretch right? But it has a lot of benefits. Let us look at them one by one:

• You can definitely increase flexibility slowly and won’t feel winded by touching your toe for example.
• Why is stretching also called warming up? It literally helps by warming your muscle fibres up and makes movement a lot easier.
• It will definitely help with improved blood circulation in your body.
• You can help reduce pain associated with poor posture-like lower back or back pain, shoulders and feet for example due to sitting hunched for long periods of time.
• It will help you retain range of motion and even improve it in a few months.
• Stress can cause pain and limited mobility. So, stretch your worries away.
• You learn to breathe properly when you stretch and this can feel meditative.
• You also effectively prepare your body for better movement and reduce chances of injury this way.

How Stretching Improves Mobility

There are different kinds of stretching involved. Dynamic stretching can be done before you workout while static stretching is best to cool off after an energetic workout. This way you can help your muscles move better with the help of ligaments and tendons in the proper way.

How Stretching Prevents Injury

Regular stretching can teach your muscles the limit till where you can stretch comfortably. Then when you do utilise them for some more demanding activities like playing sports, lifting heavy stuff or going for a run or even try on new workouts, you can worry less about getting injured or severely cramped.

Conclusion

Stretching is a great friend and aids in making you more flexible with your range of motion. You can begin with some simple stretches for 5-10 minutes and then gradually do it for longer periods of time. But be very careful when you do so if you have any previous injury. Some styles of stretching can do more harm than good. Technique is also super crucial- if you do it wrong, it is going to be bad for you. Talk to your doctor for help and you will be all set.