Being involved in fitness events and health fairs, I often ask others about their own exercise routines. After their initial self deprecating moment, they usual express how they want to exercise more, but don’t have the time. My response is that you have to make time, even 15 or 20 minutes a day, because exercise is contagious. Twenty minutes one day could mean forty-five minutes the next. You take what you can get. Finally, I tell them, if they do nothing else that day, they should make sure they stretch, because it provides many benefits.
The first positive from beginning a stretching routine is improved flexibility and movement. No one likes that first moment when they get out of bed and everything feels stiff. The last thing you would want is for that stiffness to stay around all day. You are hunched over. Your posture is terrible. As some will say, you look bent like a pretzel. If you’ve been stretching regularly, this type of early morning stiffness will go away quickly and you’ll be standing up straighter quickly. Additionally, improved flexibility allows you to reach more easily for things. Your range of motion is better and your reach may even be extended. People who take pilates, have even reported getting taller after performing the exercises after a few months.
The one I most closely associate with is injury prevention. This is a direct benefit of the elasticity that your muscles develop through stretching. Reaching for and pulling on everyday items is where most people get in trouble when they don’t stretch. Simple events like reaching for a door to hold open for someone or trying to get a box on a high shelf are typical story starters for the injured. It was in the middle of the night when I had to change bed sheets, that I experienced back pain. It isn’t that I don’t stretch regularly, but more that this exemplifies what can happen when your stiff. Out of a still sleep, I was performing reaches and pulling the mattress when my body was just jostled from sleep. My back hurt the next day. After a few days of stretching, heat, and ice I was back to normal. Any regular day, changing the sheets is not a problem at all, because I stretch regularly. As an avid runner, I do not experience pulled muscles as a result of regular stretching.
Increased circulation can lead to a number of benefits, including oxygen flow to the muscles. This increased flow of oxygen can improve your muscular endurance because it provides more of the things your muscles need. On the other end, the increased flow allows for the removal of toxins and waste to be done more rapidly, thus carrying away carbon dioxide and other waste that can slow your muscle’s recovery.
Whether you work with a personal trainer NYC, or with an instructor who teaches yoga NYC, or pilates NYC, you will be able to develop a great stretching routine. Over time, you will begin to feel and see the benefits of increased flexibility and movement. Results are not immediate. Remember, do not worry about what you reap that day, but look more at the seeds you planting for long term benefits.
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