Most of us are guilty of not stretching enough, I know I am! But is there any good excuse for not stretching?
Stretching can be done anywhere and at anytime and should be done frequently, particularly if you spend a lot of time in one position eg sitting.
What happens when you stretch?
When you engage in regular stretching, especially dynamic stretching, you improve the flexibility of your muscles and joints. This increased flexibility allows for a greater range of movement during exercises and activities, which in turn lowers your risk of injury.
Imagine this: you live in a stiff, restricted body, you reach up into the cupboard and suddenly you get a shooting pain in your arm and upper back. Could you have prevented this? Probably....
Stretching keeps your muscles supple and flexible. Supple muscles are more pliable and have more capacity to lengthen.
Stretching also improves circulation and helps relax tight muscles, alleviating tension.
Most people could probably avoid muscular skeletal pain if they stretched and moved more.
Do you feel weak in some of your movements or have poor muscle co-ordination?
This could be due to muscle tension. Stretching improves your flexibility enabling muscles to contract more efficiently and effectively providing you with more force and power from those muscles.
Stretching can also contribute to better muscle coordination and proprioception (your body's ability to sense movement, action, and location), enhancing your ability to control and stabilise your body during various movements.
Convinced you need to stretch more yet?
If you like the sound of the benefits stretching can brings, it's time to get started. So where do you start? What feels tight to you?
When you have lived with tightness, it becomes difficult to identify what is and what isn't tight, unless you have pain, so I suggest you start with common areas of tightness like your chest, neck and hamstrings (back of thighs). Often people tell me they don't feel tight, but once they have released the tension, they are amazed by what free movement feels like.
Need help with muscle tightness or joint pain and stretching isn't helping? Soft tissue therapy can help. If you would like to move more freely and feel lighter, book your soft tissue treatment now.
