Body Building Guru

Stretching Exercises: Increasing the body’s flexibility

Stretching is an essential part of any fitness routine. It is the act of lengthening of body muscles to increase the flexibility and range of motion. It is important during warm-ups as it increases blood flow in the muscles. It is also important during cool down sessions as it helps remove lactic acid from the muscles which in turn remove muscle soreness. Stretching is often performed by a number of individuals as well as animals as an extremely pleasurable activity and is often accompanied by yawning. Stretching gets oxygen flowing to the various parts of the body, thereby reducing the risk of injury before strenuous exercise sessions.

The benefits of stretching are great for athletes as well as other individuals. Muscles tend to shorten over time with regular activities such as sitting, performing any exercise or standing for along periods of time. It is important to elongate shortened muscles, as tight muscles prevent full range of movement of the lower back and pelvis leading to pain and tightness due to poor alignment. Shortened muscles affect the joints and ligaments leading to poor posture, increase in pain, and recurring injuries. Stretching helps individuals attain muscular balance and length in all the muscle groups.

Benefits of Stretching:

· It reduces the risk of injury during exercise sessions.

· It may improve ROM (range of motion).

· It plays a significant role in preventing post exercise muscle soreness.

· It improves performance during intense exercise sessions.

Stretching— a powerful tool for any exercise program

Multiple stretching exercises should be performed in order to gain the full benefits of stretching. Most aerobic, strength training, weight lifting and body building programs cause the muscles to contract and flex. Stretching increases the flexibility of your muscles and improves daily performance.

Flexibility: Stretching exercises not only increase the flexibility of your muscles and improve your performance by increasing the intensity of your exercises but also help you perform various day to day tasks with ease.

Improved blood circulation: One of the basic functions of all stretching exercises is that they improve blood circulation. This increases the flow of blood to all your muscles, thereby speeding up the process of recovery in case of muscle injuries.

Improved range of motion: Stretching exercises improve the range of motion of the joints helping you attain good balance, increase mobility and decrease the rate of injury from falling, particularly, as you age.

Improved posture: Stretching prevents your muscles from tightening, enabling you to maintain proper posture and minimize aches and pains.

Protection from injuries: Stretching prepares the body for activity by reducing muscle tightness, thereby preventing injury.

Tips for stretching:

It is important to target major muscle groups while performing stretching exercises. These include the muscles of the calves, hips, lower back, neck, thighs and shoulders.

Before performing any stretching exercises, it is important for you to warm up. This reduces the risk of injury.

If you plan to perform stretches only during the cool down sessions, make sure to increase the intensity of the activity gradually.

It is recommended that you hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds to avail maximum benefit.

Never bounce while stretching as this can cause minute tears in the muscle. These tears often result in scarring the tissues when the muscle heals leading to the tightening of the muscles even further.

Relax yourself and breathe freely while stretching. Do not hold your breath at any point.

You can stretch anywhere and anytime, whether you are at home or in the office.

Overstretching:

On the one hand where stretching promotes flexibility and reduces the risk of injury, on the other hand, overstretching can result in muscular damage, especially if you are recovering from an injury. A healthy muscle can lengthen up to 1.6 times its original length. However, overstretching results in automatic myotatic reflex that causes the muscle to retreat in order to prevent injury for tears.

Before performing any stretching exercises it is recommended that you consult a registered medical practitioner in order to avoid any risk of injury, particularly if you are suffering from any chronic pain or injury. Patients with a medical history of back pain, joint pain etc. must be extremely careful while performing any stretches.

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