To have an effective workout routine, we can safely say that stretching plays a major role.
It comes at the beginning as part of a warm-up and again, usually at the end, to help cool down.
So, as we know, stretching is of some importance but exactly how important is it?
To start with, stretching is usually performed to enhance one’s flexibility.
Increasing your flexibility enables your muscles to relax and you can carry on exercising with a lower chance of injury to yourself.
If muscle tissue becomes over-stretched, a muscle strain can happen, which is a tear of the muscle.
Fortunately, one way to stop this is to maintain your flexibility and muscle strain will be less likely to occur.
When performed correctly, stretching can help your muscles and tendons prepare for exercise and, after exercise, it can help them to loosen up and stop them from becoming stiff.
There are a few factors to keep in mind when stretching:
1. Use an accurate stretching technique to make the most of your workout,
2. Ensure you stretch on both sides of your body evenly,
3. Do not hold your stretches until they hurt,
4. Stretching should be included in the warm-up and cool down.
Physical therapists are known to use stretching as part of injury recovery of a patient.
Stretching is known to help increase the range of motion of someone with an injury.
If using stretching to recover from an injury, the right type of stretches must be used to get the safest results.
If this is not done the right way, the initial injury may come to more harm and, or the injury may take longer to recover.
With this in mind, you must take precaution when stretching.
Especially when stretching to recover from an injury, and to seek professional advice.
To improve your flexibility and fitness levels, stretching should be performed carefully and slowly.
Stretching does not have to be hard and when done correctly it will provide many perks.
Such as lesser injury risk, greater flexibility and range of movement, less recover time after injury, overall increase in physical ability and it can also prove to reduce stress and promote relaxation.
Anyone can stretch regardless of your age.
When we grow older, our muscles tend to get tighter.
With that said, to include stretching in our daily lives, all of us can benefit regardless of age, even if you do not intend to interact in any extra exercise.
To wrap up, stretching enhances ones flexibility and therefore can be quite beneficial to all ages.
Now that we have discussed why stretching is important, we can see that we need to look at our possibility of injury and our expectations for our physical performance peak.
In layman terms, stretching is important to those who wish to improve their flexibility and also lessen the chances of any injury occurring when exercising.
Remember that stretches must be done accurately and the best way to ensure this is to consult a professional.
Designed by Alex Larsson, Hyberbolic Stretching is a comprehensive online training program that teaches you everything you need to know about stretching exercises to build your muscles, confidence and lose weight at the same time.
