10 Unexpected Benefits of Stretching

When it comes to doing exercise, many people are guilty of either skipping warm-up stretching or rushing through cool-down moves after exercising. However, in addition to strength training and cardio, stretching is very important in delivering health benefits.

Believe it or not, stretching is among controversial topics in recent years in the industry of fitness. Beyond decreasing muscle soreness, there are many other unexpected benefits of stretching for both physical and mental health. This article will reveal to you 10 unexpected benefits that stretching can bring to your physical and mental health:

1. Support Good Posture

Poor flexibility puts strain on your joints and muscles, which could result in poor posture. Increasing flexibility and stretching can help to fix this by balancing the tension across your muscles. Stiff muscles might result in overexertion in a part of your body. As a result, it pulls on another part, thereby changing the way you hold your own body in its stable state and placing strain on joints.

3. Get In Touch With Your Body

Oftentimes, when you work so hard or so fast, you are out of sync with your body. Fortunately, stretching will help you continue to move and work effectively while slowing down enough to feel what is happening. Underestimating the role of this body-mind connection is a big mistake as it benefits your overall well-being so much.

In spite of these benefits, it is also crucial to bear in mind that you should not overdo stretching. It can increase the potential risk of sprains, strains, and dislocations. Thus, you had better listen to your body, breathe and stretch slowly. A fast and hard stretch will be more likely to cause injuries. A gentle stretch, which lasts for no less than 30 seconds, will promote your flexibility in a healthy way.

3. Boost Blood Circulation

While you lengthen and loosen your muscles through stretching, you are simultaneously opening up their blood vessels. This will increase blood circulation in your body, which is very important for lowered cholesterol and heart health. Besides, improve blood circulation will help fasten the recovery time and lessen overall soreness after exercising.

In the long run, increased blood flow will enhance your energy and mood as well. This also physiologically impacts on your bloodstream by helping it carry more nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, letting for higher energy.

4. Improve Sex Life

This is a slightly unexpected benefit of stretching. Stretching out will give you a chance to improve your sex life. It helps increase flexibility and motion range, thereby making it much easier for you to be adventurous.

5. Better Outlook

Regular stretchers seem have a happy, balanced perspective than normal people. While you stretch your body, you are also stretching your mind. Doing stretching poses acts as a method of meditation and self-awareness, which can boost your feelings of balance and contentment in life.

5. Improve Digestion

One of most unexpected benefits of stretching is improving digestion. Stretching requires you to bend your body in the positions that impact the energy flow. As a result, it increases blood circulation to the bowels, decrease gastritis and inflammation, and strengthen intestines.

Therefore, if you feel any discomfort in your gut or have a too-big meal, stretch to relieve all uncomfortable feelings.

6. Soothe Headaches

Stretching your neck muscles and massaging your scalp will help a lot with headaches. Actually, tension in neck muscles and scalp is one of culprits of aching headaches. The next time you feel headaches, try stretching to soothe your pain.

8. Prevent Illnesses And Injury

Stretching will prepare your muscles for unexpected and quick movements and strains during workouts. On the other hand, it increases blood circulation to your muscles and overall body, which assists you in protecting against ailments like heart disease and diabetes.

In accordance with a 2009 study published in the American Journal of Physiology, it was shown that people over 40 years old, who often stretched, had a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

In addition, despite stretching cannot totally eradicate injury, it can certainly help you be more focused, so you will be less likely to make misstep.

Thus, do not hesitate to do a few minutes of stretching, such as lunges or arm circles, prior to really going.

9. Lower Blood Sugar Levels

Exercise, in general, and stretching, in particular, is renowned for helping us to keep glucose levels in check. In turn, it benefits people with type 2 diabetes. In fact, those people, who are suffering from type 2 diabetes or who were prediabetic, said that if they stretched for about 40 minutes after having a sugary drink, their blood glucose levels lowered significantly.

10. Have Less Stress

Stretching or any other relaxation techniques can help decrease anxiety and stress. One of major components of stretching is breathing. Focusing on your breath is important while stretching. Taking deep inhales and exhales will relieve your mind of anxiety and stress, which are results of constant racing thoughts.

On the other hand, stretching can tame tension both physically and mentally through relieving tight muscles and bringing a relaxed state to your mind. Nonetheless, stretching should never be forced.

In a nutshell, stretching is one of the most crucial actions that exercisers could take in order to avoid injury, increase their overall performance and strengthen their muscles. Though the long-term benefits of stretching still need more evidence to make them really conclusive, it is still beneficial to take advantage of this simple act.

About the author:

John Hughes is a Health and Beauty expert who has more than 5 years of experience in Health Care industry. For more health care tips on healthy living, visit him at the website TrueRemedies.com. There, you will find posts on natural treatments, recipes, healthy foods, and so much more.