7 Benefits of Stretching Everyday
Whether you are a young child, teenager, an adult or elderly, everyone needs to stretch and can benefit from stretching regularly. Stretching is a vital component for optimal health and should be included in your daily routine. Here are seven benefits of stretching everyday.
1. It helps with recovery
We have seen the fitness industry expand dramatically over the past few years and everyone wants a piece of the cake. This means that we all want to become fitter, faster, leaner and stronger – pushing our bodies to the max. However in doing this, we tend to forget that we also need to allow ourselves time to recover and take adequate care of our bodies after training. Stretching is a vital component for recovery. When we train, we tear our muscles and stretching helps the muscle tissue to rejuvenate by lengthening and strengthening. Ideally we want a long, strong muscle. This will ensure better everyday movement and allow us to get the most out of our training sessions.
2. It enables flexibility
When we are flexible in our bodies, we become flexible in our lives. Being flexible helps increase our range of motion during everyday movement. When we have a great range of motion, our bodies require less energy to make the same movements. If our muscles are flexible, we create more movement in our joints. At Stretch Studio, we get people to not only stretch, but to breathe deeply, activating their parasympathetic nervous system. This allows them to release a lot of tension they are holding onto in their bodies – freeing up ‘space’ and creating more room to become ‘flexible for life’. As you go deeper into a stretch, you are able to move more freely in your bodies and lives.
3. It makes you happy
Increasingly, we lead very stressful, fast paced lives. When you give yourself the correct amount of time to stretch properly, you can allow yourself space to deeply connect with your body and your breath. Stretching releases endorphins and will leave you feeling lighter, refreshed and fabulous.
4. It makes you sleep better
We often hear from our clients that stretching improves their quality of sleep. Loosening the muscles releases tension from your body, ensuring that you get a proper, DEEP sleep. This will result in you having more energy everyday. Stretching not only helps the body, but also the mind. Increasing flexibility will release tension, thereby opening up space in the mind and allowing us to feel a sense of freedom. Its kind of like meditation for the muscles
– they get tight when we are tired, as it is a coping mechanism the body uses to keep us going. When we have a deep sleep at night, our muscles loosen and relax.
5. It enhances athletic performance
When we are flexible in our muscles, we are able to run faster, jump higher and move more freely. Having a qualified professional (like a flexologist) stretch you will ensure that you are going further in your stretching every session. Stretching is like going to the gym, we can’t go to the gym once and expect to get a six-pack. When you get an assisted stretch, we do what you call PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Training), which essentially means that we are ensuring that the muscle contracts and lengthens at the same time. The muscle tissue is tearing but lengthening at the same time, as opposed to lifting weights where the muscle tissue will tear and shorten. Stretching properly will allow you to retrain your muscles. When we have a long muscle, our whole bodies move better, faster and more efficiently, ensuring that we get the most out of our training, performance and everyday lives.
6. It promotes blood circulation and reduces soreness
Stretching will increase blood flow to the muscles. Great blood circulation is proven to be beneficial for overall health, promoting healthy cell function and cell growth. By focusing on your breathing while stretching, you will send fresh oxygenated blood into the cells. This will aid recovery by helping to reduce lactic acid build up in the muscles ensuring that you are less stiff after a heavy workout.
Our blood is what ensures our bodies are fed with whatever it needs, including all the correct nutrients. Getting a deep stretch will ensure that your blood is flowing efficiently around your entire body, allowing the nutrients to be carried to your organs and muscles.
7. It increases your range of motion
Stretching increases the range of motion in your body and limbs. It will remove the pressure from your joints, helping to prevent injury, as you will be able to move more fluidly in the body while training. Stretching everyday will also help our bodies function at their optimum. We will move more easily, sleep better, and wake up with less aches, pains and stiffness because you will become more mobile and your body and joints will have a better range of motion.
As a result of fast paced, stressful lives, people are becoming more and more disconnected to their bodies. Stretching everyday will enable a range of health benefits, leading to improvements in your wellbeing and overall quality of life.
About the author
Lisa Lawson
Lisa Lawson is the co-founder and manager of Stretch Studio, Australia’s first dedicated 1 on 1 professional assisted stretching studio. Lisa has been in the health and wellness game for over a decade and is passionate about sharing the benefits of stretching with others. After healing her own excruciating back pain through a combination of stretching, yoga and meditation, Lisa was able to gain a vital understanding of how beneficial stretching can be for the body. As a result, Lisa and her co-founders created Stretch Studio so people could come to a space where they could relax and connect to their bodies through assisted stretching.
Stretch Studio uses a form of static stretching where a ‘Flexologist’ (a professional assisted stretcher) exerts gentle force upon the limb to produce a controlled, deeper stretch that feels great as you do it. The assisted stretching method creates alignment in the body and contributes to improved flexibility, increased muscle control and an expanded range of motion.
