Benefits of Stretching

Have you ever had low back problems, ankle or neck pain, cramps in your muscles, or felt tightness in your body? If yes, here’s an explanation of it…

As you grow older, muscle tissue in your body become shorter and tighter due to inactivity, poor posture, muscle imbalance, muscle overuse and etc. All of these can bring you lots of pain, and increase risk of injuries.

You can easily prevent these problems by stretching before and after your cardio or weight lifting workouts, just spending a few minutes during the day. Believe me, stretching is the best thing to do for your body any time during a day. You will get lots of benefits and your body will thank you.

The benefits of muscle stretching:

• Reduce risk of low back problems such as sciatica and pyriformes syndrome
• Improve circulation into your muscle fiber
• Help in breaking down cellulite cells
• Decrease risk of muscle tension, sprain, and injury
• Decrease tightness in shoulders, neck, and, upper back muscles
• Reduce neck pain and headaches
• Improve good posture
• Improve joint of motion
• Decrease soreness after exercises or prolonged sitting
• Reduce anxiety, stress, and fatigue 

The correct way to stretch is to breathe easily, never hold your breath, relax, and focus only on the muscles being stretched. You should feel a mild stretch and then hold 10-15 seconds. Never stretch to the point of pain. If the tension increases or becomes painful, you are overstretching the muscle and should back off into a more comfortable stretch.