Stretching is an aspect of exercise that many of us find far too easy to overlook. However, there are some advantages to stretching that may persuade you to incorporate it into your daily practice.
But, before we get into those advantages, it’s important to define what we mean by stretching.
Stretching is defined as any movement that temporarily lengthens your muscles (and their tendons, ligaments and connective tissue).
More specifically, there are many types of stretches. Static stretches entail going to the end of a range of motion and then holding that posture, whereas dynamic stretches entail active, controlled motions over a broader range of motion.
Stretching Physical Advantages
-
Stretching can help you avoid getting hurt.
Warming up before an exercise can help you avoid injury and one component of a proper warm-up is dynamic stretching (along with light movement that gets your heart rate up). Warming up your muscles, joints and tendons with dynamic stretching enhances your range of motion temporarily. As a result, you’ll be able to do your training techniques with the proper body alignment.
-
Stretching prepares your muscles for your workout.
Before a workout, most experts advise doing dynamic stretches. This is because dynamic stretches before a workout are a technique of moving slowly before going quickly. You’re preparing your body to perform efficiently so that it can both produce and absorb great forces by doing so.
Dynamic stretches can also help increase the mind-muscle connection. The mind-muscle link is the idea that by thinking about the muscles you’re engaging while you move, you can help them operate more efficiently throughout a workout.
-
Stretching makes day-to-day tasks seem less difficult.
Increasing your flexibility will not only help your workouts, but it will also benefit your daily life. Many daily chores require some degree of flexibility, even if you aren’t aware of it. Stretching makes squatting into and out of a chair, stooping down to pick up your toddler and leaning over to get into your automobile much easier. You’ll be able to do these little but important day-to-day actions more effortlessly and effectively if you increase your flexibility through stretching.
-
When you’re working out, stretching can help you recruit your muscles more effectively.
If you can stick to a regular stretching regimen, you may notice not only an increase in range of motion but also a boost in performance. You’ll be able to engage more muscle if you have a wider range of motion. You’ll increase strength, allowing you to lift heavier loads – and thus get even stronger.
-
Stretching improves flexibility.
Stretching can help you improve your range of motion in the short and long term. It’s possible that the brief benefits are due to your nervous system becoming more tolerant of a stretch position. These benefits usually vanish within a day or perhaps a few hours. Stretching five to six days a week is required to truly lengthen the muscle and hence enhance your range of motion over time.
Wrapping it up
A persistent static stretching routine can help reverse adaptive shortening and so reduce the achy sensation by increasing muscular flexibility. You might also relieve tension by just exercising more throughout the day. Is there a simple way to accomplish this? Every hour, perform five minutes of dynamic stretching, such as hip circles and swinging arm hugs. These quick spurts of exercise can help alleviate midday stiffness.
Source: https://www.self.com/story/benefits-of-stretching
REACH’s 2 STEP APPROACH TO RECOVERY THERAPY
1. IDE
NTIFY THE ROOT CAUSES OF YOUR ACHES AND PAINS
At Reach, we start your Stretch and Recovery journey with your Mobility Risk Factor Assessment. This assessment allows us to pinpoint the causes of your aches and pains, muscle imbalances and weakness, and posture or mobility limitations. After your assessment, we can proceed to step 2!
2. CUSTOMIZE YOUR RECOVERY THERAPY PROGRAM
Based on your Mobility Risk Factor Assessment, a custom Stretch & Recovery therapy plan will be created. The program is designed just for you and will target your areas of concern and interest. Each session includes a balanced blend of Corrective Stretch, Percussion, Compression, CBD, and Heat Vibration Therapy. This takes the guesswork out of choosing the Stretch and Recovery therapies that will be best for you!
