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The Importance of Stretching for a Healthy Spine, Strong Muscles, and Resilient Joints
Tue 08 06 2021

Stretching is recommended after every workout to keep your muscles healthy and safe. It has lots of benefits such as increasing your flexibility, which is essential for your fitness journey. It can also improve your posture, decrease your body aches and stress levels. However these are not the only benefits, there are others for a healthy spine, strong muscles, and resilient joints.

1. It increases your flexibility

Stretching regularly can improve your flexibility, and this is extremely important for your health. Flexibility is needed for everyday activities, and the more flexible you are the better you can perform these activities. Flexibility also helps keeps reduced mobility away as much as possible as you age.

2. It increases your range of motion

Freedom of movement comes from the ability to move your joints through all motion of movements. This can be achieved through stretching. According to one study, dynamic and static stretching are effective in increasing your range of motion. PNF or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation is a type that is found to be the most effective to see immediate gains because it stretched the muscles to their limits.

3. It improves your performance in physical activities

Dynamic stretches before a workout can prepare your body for the training session. It can also boost your performance for the workout, or athletic events.

4. It increases blood flow to your muscles

Stretching regularly can increase your circulation, which also improves your blood flow to muscles, reducing muscle soreness and shortening the recovery time.

5. It improves your posture

Poor posture can be caused by muscle imbalances. According to some studies, combining strengthening and stretching some specific muscle groups can improve proper alignment and decrease musculoskeletal pain which can positively affect your posture.

6. It helps to heal and prevent back pain

Your range of motion can decrease when you have tight muscles. This can also lead to straining the muscles of the back. Therefore, stretching can treat back injuries, healing the pain through the stretching of the tight muscles. Regularly stretching can prevent such back pains, as the back muscles become stronger and the risk of muscle strain is reduced.

7. It is great for stress relief

We already know that working out can help relieve stress, however, so does stretching. When we are stressed, our muscles are tense and tight, because muscles tighten up to respond to emotional and physical stress. Therefore, draw your attention to the areas that hold stress the most during stressful situations, such as the upper back, the shoulders, and the neck, and stretch them out!

8. It can calm your mind

Stretching regularly has great effects on calming you. You must focus on mindfulness and meditation exercises while stretching to give your mind the mental break it needs.

9. It helps decrease tension headaches

Having stress and tension headaches can make going on with your day a difficult thing to do. Therefore, stretching is a good way (alongside proper nutrition, drinking enough water, resting, and stretching) to get rid of the tension that causes headaches.

Source:

https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching#benefits

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