Activating this branch of your nervous system may help alleviate the psychological effects of stress. This, in turn, may help induce feelings of calmness and relaxation. Being able to achieve a full range of motion through all your joints may help boost your sports performance.
For example, to achieve maximum speed, a sprinter needs to be able to fully extend and rotate their hips. Both static and dynamic stretching may be able to help you improve your range of motion. However, static stretching should be reserved for after workouts since it can decrease force production.
Muscle tightness and tension can negatively affect your posture by pulling your spine into positions that can put stress on your back, neck, and core muscles. Research has shown that regular stretching in combination with core strengthening exercises may help improve poor posture and alignment.
Stretching can be done anywhere at any time. Here are five key stretches that can help relieve tension and tightness in many of the major muscle groups in your body. Neck rolls are a great way to relieve tension in your neck, especially after long periods of sitting. Stretching tends to feel good because it activates your parasympathetic nervous system and increases blood flow to your muscles. Besides feeling good and helping to relieve muscle tension and stress, stretching can also increase your flexibility and circulation, boost your athletic performance, and improve your posture.
Talk to your doctor if you have concerns about stretching, especially if you have an injury or a chronic health condition. Stretching before bed can help you not only fall asleep faster, but also stay asleep. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage. For example, sitting in a chair all day results in tight hamstrings in the back of the thigh.
That can make it harder to extend your leg or straighten your knee all the way, which inhibits walking. Likewise, when tight muscles are suddenly called on for a strenuous activity that stretches them, such as playing tennis, they may become damaged from suddenly being stretched. Injured muscles may not be strong enough to support the joints, which can lead to joint injury. Regular stretching keeps muscles long, lean, and flexible, and this means that exertion "won't put too much force on the muscle itself," says Nolan.
Healthy muscles also help a person with balance problems to avoid falls. With a body full of muscles, the idea of daily stretching may seem overwhelming. But Nolan says you don't have to stretch every muscle you have. Aim for a program of daily stretches or at least three or four times per week. Find a physical therapist your local Y is a good place to start who can assess your muscle strength and tailor a stretching program to fit your needs.
If you have chronic conditions such as Parkinson's disease or arthritis, you'll want to clear a new stretching regimen with your doctor before you start. Stretching once today won't magically give you perfect flexibility.
You'll need to do it over time and remain committed to the process. A hamstring stretch will keep the muscles in the back of your thigh flexible. Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you. And overdoing anything has never brought any positive results. It applies to stretching as well.
Overdoing a stretch may lead to serious negative consequences. If you overstretch, your muscles can become too weak and loose, eventually causing microscopic or even full tears of muscles, ligaments, or tendons 5.
Even if you are a bit crunches for time and want to get down to your workout as quickly as possible, you should never skip or rush your pre-workout stretching. Take your time to stretch well, and if you are that restricted by time limits, it is better to reduce the number of performed exercises during your training, instead of rushing through your warm-up.
Two previous points mentioned overstretching and rushing, but one more mistake that goes with those two together is rapid movements. The main rule of stretching states that you should never stretch to the point when you feel pain or discomfort.
And rapid movements can be the reason for both those aspects. If you twitch or bounce in a stretch, you may injure your muscles and add to muscle stiffness.
That is why your moves should be smooth and careful. Performing a proper full-body stretching routine is a great idea, but it takes a lot of time, so turning it into a separate workout might be a good idea. When you are stretching before exercising, make sure that you focus on the muscles that you involve the most during your training. For example, if you are planning to go for a run, you should target your feet, calves, hamstrings, glutes, quads, and hip flexors, while a warm-up before the swimming session should incorporate all major muscle groups, from arms and shoulders to calves and hamstrings.
Any properly performed physical activity in moderation is beneficial for your body and health. And stretching is not an exception. On the contrary, it may offer you even more benefits than some other type of workout. It is widely used to improve flexibility and support proper functioning of the body, its muscles, and joints. It can help you prevent injuries, boost the recovery, and strengthen your muscles. The answer to this question lies in certain reactions of your body to this process, such as activation of the parasympathetic system, which among others is responsible for the relaxation; production of endorphins which cause happiness; better blood circulation, and others.
That is why after a good stretch you feel refreshed and satisfied. But bear in mind that improper stretching technique can cause negative consequences and before adjusting your workout routine, please, discuss it with your doctor. Your body will thank you if you supplement your nutrition plan with a good workout. This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind.
Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility! For example, if you have a solid mind-muscle connection when you're deadlifting, you can make sure that your hamstrings and glutes are engaging and doing the work rather than your lower back. Warming up before a workout can help reduce your risk of injury, and dynamic stretching is one component of a good warm-up along with light movement that gets your heart rate up.
Dynamic stretching helps warm up your muscles, joints, and tendons, and temporarily increases your range of motion. This, in turn, can help you perform the moves in your workout with the ideal body positioning.
Take a squat for example. To compensate for that shortened range of motion, you might lean forward, which could stress your back, or turn your knees in, which could cause pain on the outside of that joint, she explains. But if you dynamically warm up first and then squat, you have a better chance of actually nailing the move, pain-free.
Doing so will help lower your heart rate, calm your breathing, and more quickly ease you out of the heightened state you were in while exercising. One way to achieve this calmed state, says Patel, is to do static stretching combined with deep breathing. Stretching after a workout can also increase blood flow, boost oxygen levels, help deliver nutrients to your body and your muscles, and help aid with the recovery process, Jennifer Morgan , P.
Stretching can be a great way to identify imbalances in flexibility or areas of extra tightness in the body, which then gives you a chance to correct those problem areas before they lead to injury, says Ford.
With that intel, you can then be extra cognizant to work your hips evenly through their full range of motion whenever you perform exercises involving the hips. You may also want to add more unilateral exercises into your routine to further combat the imbalance.
And now, thanks to stay-at-home life, many of us are spending even more time on our butts after the workday wraps. A consistent static stretching routine may help reverse that adaptive shortening and thus alleviate that achy sensation by increasing flexibility in the muscle, says Matsuoka.
You can also combat that tightness by simply moving more during the day. One easy way to achieve that? Do five minutes of dynamic stretching every hour, says Ford, who suggests moves like hip circles and swinging arm hugs. These brief bursts of activity can go a long way to combating your daytime tightness, he says. For a lot of people, stretching just feels good. Stretching can be especially relaxing mentally if you pair it with deep breathing.
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