Hello my lovely readers!
I want you all to do something for me. Think back…..when was the last time that you gave your muscles a good stretch? Well if you had to think back further than a week, then keep on reading. For those of you that do stretch on a regular basis keep on doing it and you keep reading as well. I am not leaving anyone out.
Did you know that:
- We have over 600 muscles in our body
- Stretching helps improve your flexibility
- Stretching your muscles helps to prevent injuries
- It is normal for people to lose about 1 percent of their lean muscle mass per year after the age of 40. (Taken from here)
I could go on and on with the benefits of stretching, but just from the short list alone, you can see that stretching is very important. With over 600 muscles in our body, something has to be done to keep them up to par. We have muscles that we can control and ones that we cannot. For the ones that we have control of, we should at least maintain them. After any type of exercise, you should stretch. Your muscles will become tight and therefore shorter. You have to stretch in order for them to lengthen back out and grow.
Have you ever began your day and realized that you were sore in a particular area? Well that could have resulted from numerous things, but when it comes down to it stretching is a part of the solution to you relieving the soreness.
When you are flexible, you become less prone to injuries than others who are not. I am not talking about karate kid flexible, but flexible enough to move your muscles freely without much resistance or tension. Think about this; if you sat down in your car and bent the wrong way or stepped up into your Truck/SUV and pulled up the wrong way, you could set yourself up for an injury. I know that might sound simple but injuries do occur from simple movements which will usually tell you that you need to stretch more.
Losing muscle may not produce a red flag for you, but if it does just remember that you can lose what you don’t use. Get into your thinking pose again……. now think back to when you use to run, walk more often, workout, or do some type of physical exercise. Your muscles had a nice little shape to them. Now take a look at them now. You can see that the shape is not there like it used to be. It’s because you have lost some of that muscle. I am not saying that your muscles will just disappear completely but you can see a difference. Even if you work out often, if you skip a week here or there, you still lose some muscle. It might not be a lot, but there is a little reduction there.
Be careful while stretching and hold each stretch at the point of mild tension or tightness, not to the point of pain.
DO NOT stretch cold muscles as they are more prone to injury in this state. Warm them up first with some type of cardiovascular movement.
DO NOT stretch after muscle strains or ligament sprains.
DO NOT stretch when muscles or joints are inflamed, infected or hurt.
DO NOT stretch after a recent fracture.
Here are few ways that you can incorporate stretching into your daily routine or life.
- When you are applying your lotion to your legs stay bent over for about 10 seconds then come back up. Do this for a total of 3 times for 10 to 20 seconds.
- While you are sitting at your desk at work, monitoring the kids in the hallways, walking to your car, etc stretch your arms.
- Stretch while you are watching the news or your favorite TV program
Click on this link to see photos and directions for stretching exercises for you entire body.
I just want you all to become more aware of how important something as simple as stretching can be. We only get one body so let’s treat it well and take care of it.
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