We’ve all heard that stretching is good for you, but why?
Stretching is the act of lengthening muscles, tendons, and/or ligaments. The most fundamental benefit of stretching is to maintain and potentially increase your range of motion.
The term range of motion refers to the amount of mobility that you have. We commonly refer to joints when we talk about range of motion. Joints are the articulations between bones.
Take your knee, for example. The knee does two main things: straightening (extension) and bending (flexion). If you don’t bend your knee a lot throughout life (i.e. sitting on your heels), you are likely to lose that range of motion later in life and find that you cannot sit on your heels.
Why are flexibility and range of motion important?
It is true that working on flexibility helps with injury prevention.
For example, if you sit a lot, your spine is commonly in a flexed position. Over the course of years, if you do not practice bending backwards (like an upward dog in yoga), you could experience back pain when stressing the spine into that direction.
Another example would be sitting with your knees bent. This makes your hamstrings tight. That can alter your mobility when bending forward.
Stretching can help with cramping.
Cramping is when your body involuntarily overrecruits or contracts a muscle. If you experience a muscle cramp or “Charlie horse”, stretching can help reduce this symptoms.
It’s important to be a lifelong stretcher!
Stretching throughout life helps with basic functional activities like squatting. Do you know an older person who can no longer squat? This can be due to many factors including weakness, poor balance, and more, however, a major reason for the loss of this function is the loss of flexibility and range of motion.
Regular stretching into a squat can help.
Stretching helps maintain a healthy posture.
Stretching of the chest, low back, mid back, neck, and hips contribute to maintaining good posture throughout life. The less we stretch these areas, the more forward we become.
There are many more reasons to stretch. If you have questions about stretching or want to learn more about stretching, please reach out to us at info@wholebodyhealthpt.com. We will assess your mobility, talk to you about your specific stretching needs, and show you how to stretch in a safe way including intensity of stretching, length of stretch holds, and frequency of stretching.