11 Incredible Benefits Of Stretching
Shirin is a health and wellness writer with three years of experience and specializes in writing articles on yoga and has extensive knowledge about the postures of the asanas. Prior to joining Stylecraze, she interned with an advertising firm as a copywriter and as an editorial intern for a luxury fashion magazine.
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Stretching is extremely satisfying. I mean it’s probably the first thing you do when you wake up. It’s something you do when you are lazy and tired. You probably do it on your office chair, when you are engrossed in a hard day’s work. Stretching is something you most definitely do while you work out. And there’s a right way to stretch. But this simple, comforting pull of a muscle has a lot more in store. It has some awesome benefits that will make you want to stretch more and stretch right. Take a look:
1. Improves Your Flexibility
It is true when they say if you don’t use it, you lose it. When you thwart your body movement, you will obviously become less mobile. When you stretch your muscles it increases your flexibility. But if you don’t stretch your body tends to become sedentary and lethargic.
2. Your Back Is Secure
There are two benefits to your back owing to stretching. The first is that your body is more aware of motion as you stretch. This improves balance and therefore decreases the risk of falling, or injuries from a fall. The second advantage is that if you already suffer from back pain, it is likely that stretching will reduce or cure this pain, because it releases the stress and tightness in the muscles, and this in turn loosens the muscles surrounding the spine and lower back, therefore releasing the pain.
3. Stretching Is A Great Stress Release
When you are stressed, your blood flow is reduced. This causes knots and muscle tension. When you stretch, blood circulation is increased and therefore tension is eased out, and this helps you feel relaxed and calm. The blood is pumped to your brain, and this directly reflects on your mood.
4. Stretching Improves Your Sleep Quality
No matter the duration of your sleep, you tend to sleep in limited positions, for that duration, and therefore you might tend to feel quite stiff. Therefore a little stretching before you go to bed, can release the tightness and cramping that you might feel when you sleep through the night. Also this will release the day’s stress, and therefore you will experience sound sleep through the night.
5. Stretching Enhances Your Posture
Tight muscles are weak muscles. This can seriously compromise your posture. As you stretch and loosen your muscles, you are more likely to correct your posture, and thus avoid injuring or hurting yourself.
6. Stretching Keeps Your Joints Healthy
Stretching has more to it, than the enhancement of muscles. It also increases the potential of the joints, moving them to a full range of motion. This increases the tendon flexibility. Therefore you are less likely to suffer from a tennis elbow or a runner’s knee.
7. Stretching Helps You Focus
It has been established that stretching increases the blood flow, and pumps blood to your brain. This makes you feel fresh and energetic, therefore increasing your ability to focus and concentrate on a particular job. You are sure to excel.
8. Stretching Improves Your Form
Tight muscles are not good when you foray into an exercise mode. To correct muscle imbalances, you need to stretch before you begin your workout. Not only will it prevent injury it will also improve your performance.
9. Stretching Brings Out The Best In Your Muscles
While you are at your stretching routine, you are sure to target all your muscles, like thighs, hips, calves, shoulders, back, neck and arms. When you stretch these major muscles, this ensures that they work well, and allows you to use each muscle to its fullest.
10. Stretching Prevents Injury
You never have to worry about “something snapping” when you exercise, because stretching, is a sort of warm up that loosens your muscles and works as an insurance to injury.
11. Stretching Is Never Painful
Effective stretching unlike other workouts isn’t painful. If you feel the pain, you aren’t doing it right. It is just a sign that you should loosen the stretch. You stretch to relax.
Its time to flex away sleepy head! Make the most of your stretching now!
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