Before or after engaging in any type of activity, we frequently hear to make sure to stretch. But is that stretching beneficial to you? What exactly are the advantages of regularly stretching? Let’s look at some of the advantages below.
5 STRETCHING BENEFITS
The five main advantages of stretching are:
- Decreased inflammation
- Increasing strength
- Independence of movement
- Improving flexibility to reduce risk of injury
- Stress relief and mental health
#1 Decreased inflammation
Training your flexibility will help you feel better! The body perceives bad posture and repetitive motions that restrict or aggravate its range of motion as injuries. As a result, the body will make an effort to repair the damage.
Inflammation brought on by injury causes the body to tighten its muscles as a defense mechanism to stop additional damage. This increase in muscle tension causes more muscle adhesions, also referred to as “knots,” which impair your muscle’s ability to move or stretch normally.
#2 Increasing Strength
Your strength and performance in physical activities can both be enhanced by flexibility. Having full range of motion control over your muscles is the aim of a
Additionally, if your muscles are sore or stiff, you might not be able to perform as well during training or engage in explosive motions.
#3 Independence of movement
Flexibility allows for freedom of movement to perform everyday activities such as bending over to tie your shoes, lifting groceries and vacuuming the floor. These are things that can become more difficult as we age, so we want to regularly engage in a stretching routine, so these everyday activities don’t become difficult.
#4 Improving flexibility to reduce risk of injury
We can lower the possibility of muscular imbalances by developing our flexibility or by regularly practicing flexibility exercises.
When there are muscle imbalances, the body will choose the movement pattern with the least amount of resistance. This causes bad posture, which causes bad movement and form, which raises the possibility of getting hurt.
#5 Stress relief and mental health
Stretching promotes relief and relaxation! This has both physical and emotional health benefits!
The various forms of stretching
SELF-MYOFASCIAL RELEASE (SMR)
A foam roller, lacrosse balls and other similar things are used in this type of stretching to loosen up trigger points, also known as “knots,” in the muscles. Gentle massage can assist loosen “knots” in tight or knotted muscles so that the muscle fibers can realign straighter and relieve pressure.
Finding a “trigger point” and applying pressure to it for at least 30 seconds is crucial when doing a myofascial release. This is a fantastic stretching technique to utilize before working out and even before other stretching techniques!
STATIC STRETCHING
The most well-known type of stretching is likely static stretching. It entails stretching a muscle to its maximum length and maintaining that position for at least 30 seconds. This kind of stretching can aid in lengthening overworked or tight muscles, and research indicates that daily application of this sort of stretching enhances flexibility over time.
Source: https://blog.nasm.org/the-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!
