5 Benefits of Daily Stretching

Recompose, Revitalize & Rebalance

Keep pushing, keep pushing, you are almost done, just keep pushing. We keep telling ourselves that we got this and it seems like we just hit repeat on that cycle. We put so much pressure, so much tension on our bodies through the process, but we forget to give it any time to recover. That tension continued to build day after day, year after year and before you know it, that tension has crossed its threshold and your body starts giving up on you in ways you can’t imagine.

What if I told you all that could be avoided? No joint pain? No muscular tension all the time? What if I told you that there is no secret to being able to prevent such injuries and difficulties from arising? You probably already know this way too, but whatever the reason maybe that is keeping you from incorporating this benefit in your life, it’s never too late to start now.

Many people are aware of the benefits of stretching before any physical activity. And if you don’t know, trust me, you don’t want to build up that lactic acid and go through that recovery process just because you skipped stretching before your physical activity. But most people don’t really consider the idea of stretching every day regularly as part of their daily routines regardless of their physical activity levels. The health benefits are outstanding for people in all waves of life especially those with a more extreme lifestyle that ranges from a sedentary lifestyle to a very active one.

Allowing your body to go through a daily stretch routine helps alleviate the tension built in your muscles. Relieving that stress helps improve circulation with increased blood flow to your muscles providing you with more energy and strength. Not only that, but stretching daily improves posture and range of motion, diminishes pain, helps prevent injuries, and defeats muscle cramps and soreness.

Self-care Reminder: Allow your body to take a moment to recompose and revitalize as you breathe in for a nice soothing daily stretch. Listen to your body and feel what your body is telling you. Try adding 15 minutes of stretching to your daily routine and feel the difference.

Benefits of Daily Stretching

1. Stretching helps improve circulation.

Too much stiffness in the muscles can cause poor circulation of blood flow reaching the muscles and joints. Studies note that stretching can add an extra layer of protection against common illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and even diabetes - which are all associated with having reduced blow flow. Stretching leads to having improved circulation and energy, which boosts oxygen levels, and increases the delivery of nutrients to your muscles. This also allows your body to remove metabolic waste like uric acid, carbon dioxide, and ammonia from the body. Stretching can help avoid persistent overuse that can be the leading cause of recurrent pain and inflammation. Our muscles are very flexible and can stretch up to 1 and 1/2 times their original length. However, it is also important to note that tendons are not as flexible. They actually cannot withstand more than 4% beyond resting position before causing permanent damage. In fact, most incidents occur due to having tight muscles and tendons that are stretched either too quickly or abruptly in an unexpected direction. Having a regular daily stretch routine allows you to continuously stretch your muscles slowly and consistently being able to strengthen them and improve their flexibility.

2. Stretching can help improve posture and range of motion.

Tightness in the core cause of developing poor posture. Due to the nature of our work and conditioning, most people don’t focus much energy on correcting their posture. Having a poor posture ends up putting too much strain on the body causing pain and inflammation to arise in common complaint areas that include neck pain and back pain. Stretching allows your body to naturally adapt to and conform to a strong, upright posture by alleviating tightness in the muscles and improving your range of motion. Joint areas suffer the most with restricted range of motion with persistent muscular and tendon tightness. Falling into the normal degrees of the total range of motion for each joint is crucial to preventing injuries and developing pain or inflammation. Stretching daily can significantly improve the degree of range of motion.

3. Stretching can help diminish pain.

The added pressure of stretching that is applied on the muscles is thought to release a wave of endorphins that in turn help reduce pain, increase energy levels, and enhance your mood. Engaging in stretching exercises on a daily basis is shown to improve the circulation of blood flow to the muscles throughout the body. Having an increased influx of blood flow helps shorten the recovery time needed for injuries and further helps reduce soreness.

4. Stretching can help prevent injuries.

When the muscles and tendons that are in charge of supporting the joints fall a victim to tightness and cramps, this often results as the cause of very preventable injuries. Regular stretching is known to help prevent the muscles from tightness by keeping the muscles nice and long, lean, and flexible. This embedded flexibility and strength naturally allows the body to avoid injuries that come from putting too much force on the muscle itself.

5. Stretching can defeat muscle cramps and soreness.

It is only natural for your body to try and protect itself from persistent damage and pressure your muscles incur on a daily basis. The area of persistent contact develops a protective measure against the tension. The results: muscle tightness, soreness, cramps, injuries, etc. All of which can be avoidable with daily stretching techniques. Stretching before and after any use of your muscles for an extended period of time is a great idea to avoid muscle cramps and soreness to begin with.

Flexibility is a crucial aspect of health and fitness. Incorporating a good warm-up and cooldown stretching routine into every session allows me to be worry-free about muscle recovery and decreases my chances of injury. I like to practice both DYNAMIC and STATIC STRETCHING as a part of my training sessions.

Static stretches are the common stretches everyone is aware of when you are stationary while you stand, lay, or sit and hold onto a single position for a time period. This type of stretch allows you to help length your muscles and improve flexibility. By holding the position for a time period allows the muscle and joints to reach their full range of motion. This is effective in improving flexibility, reducing stiffness, and preventing injury from incurring.

On the other hand, dynamic stretching is known as controlled movement stretching that is used to prepare your muscles, tension, ligaments, and soft tissue to be able to perform safely. Dynamic stretching is a form of stretching that improves speed, coordination, agility, and acceleration. This is a more active-based stretch moving your muscles and joints through a full range of motion series. Adding a 5-10 minute dynamic stretch routine as a warm-up routine to low-moderate-intense physical activities can help reduce muscle stiffness and help increase muscle temperature.

Stay tuned in for my upcoming post on Static VS Dynamic Stretching: Two Types of Stretching Methods, Examples, When to Use, Benefits, and More. Never miss out on new posts & be the first to know when we launch by signing up to our visionary club.

Health Challenge

Build strength and mobility with 30 days of stretch core movement, incorporate new healthy habits, and feel at your best. Take on the challenge to improve your flexibility and circulation by incorporating a regular stretch routine into your daily schedule. Join our Visionary Club and receive access to our fitness library with stretching routines and example videos to help get you started. Your Stretch Core Movement Challenge gives you an instructional guide for simple stretching routines and positions to help build your own personalized movement routine.