Besides "stretching also improves your mental state, as it reduces stress and releases tension. It's a great way to give yourself a mental break, to recharge and calm the mind, especially during this [COVID] pandemic," tells Ezekh. What happens to your body if you skip stretches?
A lack of stretching can limit your range of motion over time and make your muscles tight and shortened due to inflexibility. This consequently makes your muscles weak, increasing the risk for strains, joint pain and muscle damage. There are different kinds of stretching techniques for different forms of training. The three major types of stretches are:. Just like with all the other exercises, proper technique is crucial when doing stretches. Here are a few quick tips on how to do stretching exercises safely and effectively:.
Learn more tips for effective stretching here. So far, research findings have yielded no significant support for the role of static stretching, before or after a workout, in the reduction of muscle injury as well as soreness. Prevention of post-exercise soreness is another common reason to include stretching in exercise regimens. However, the closest thing to favorable evidence for that theory is an apparent reduction of inflammation in connective tissue.
It would be the perfect explanation for our belief in stretching as a remedy for muscle soreness—had it not been exclusively tested on rats. But as always, hard work pays off.
No pain, no gain, right? This time, the answer is yes. Our bodies grow accustomed to specific movements and send signals to the brain telling it to ease up with the pain symptoms. As a result, our tolerance increases and so does our range of motion, allowing us to move more freely in certain ways. But aside from the increased range of motion, what other benefits do we get from improved flexibility?
Scientifically speaking, not many, at least from all the data gathered so far. One study did show that a supervised stretching program is an effective way to improve gait in elderly patients. Sometimes we do it right after we wake up, sometimes throughout the day. While we should step away from engaging in extensive pre-workout stretching to avoid injuries, nothing stops us from doing some light stretching after exercising or anytime we want. However, yoga entails body and mind connection, and a continuous flow of movements.
According to the research, a warmup involving sport-specific dynamic stretching and some light aerobic activity appears to work better for injury prevention than static stretching. If you do, there may be an injury or damage in the tissue. Stop stretching that muscle and talk to your doctor.
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