Stretching: Your Body's Built-In Fountain of Youth

 

By Lucas Rockwood,
Yoga Body Naturals

Scientifically performed workouts emphasize stretching before and after each workout. Regardless of the type of workout, your body should be prepared first. That is the goal of stretching.

Stretching helps reduce body stiffness and relaxes your muscles, improving their flexibility for various movements. Proper stretching also eases blood circulation throughout your body, increasing your body temperature up to a level suitable for the beginning of your workout.

Stretching exercise after your workout has yet another important role to play. After a workout, your increased blood circulation causes a corresponding increase in your body temperature. Some exercises cause muscle tightening. A 30-60 second stretch cools the body down and relaxes those tight muscles.

While stretching before and after other exercises is important, that doesn’t mean those are the only times one can do stretching exercise. Anybody, anywhere and anytime can do stretching exercise unless otherwise prohibited for any health concern.

Modern fitness programs include proven stretching exercises literally for every part of the body. Appropriate body posture is an important factor to consider while performing stretching exercises. Unless your posture is appropriate and comfortable, stretching could cause serious injury to the muscles. Concentrating on any pleasant object like a flower or a picture helps attain the right posture. Unlike some yoga positions, simple stretching doesn’t require you to hold your breath. In fact, good stretching relaxes your body while maintaining normal breathing.

Stretching also helps improve balance, coordination and concentration. That’s why many athletes and sportsmen choose to do regular stretching exercise. It helps them keep their stamina high, heal their sports-related muscle pain, and improve their balance while making fast movements.

Stretching has been found to be a natural anti-aging therapy. That’s good news if you wish to remain young and fit for a long time. Those who do regular stretching exercise, look younger than their counterparts who make excuses instead of a few minutes of daily stretching. Just a few minutes of stretching can give your stamina a boost all day long.

In our modern lifestyle, we sacrifice our time fulfilling our professional and social commitments but rarely allow time to relax. It’s becoming practically impossible day-by-day to spend hours working out in the health club or burning calories on sports grounds. But the stressed-out body and mind only know that they need relaxation — and stretching exercise is definitely a good option. Ultimately it’s not about being just physically fit and looking young, but about feeling a sense of peace and well-being.

A brief summary of the benefits of stretching exercise:

• Reduces body stiffness
• Relaxes muscles which improves movement flexibility
• Eases blood circulation in the body
• Adjusts the level of body temperature in preparation for a heavier workout
• Improves body balance and coordination
• Improves concentration

Begin stretching today. If you plan on adding stretching to your day tomorrow, it may soon turn into next week, next month, next year. Get started today!

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