The Importance of Stretching

Stretching is one of the single most important things to remember when working out. Anytime you are physically active you should incorporate a warm up stretch and cool down stretch into your plans. It is important that all of our muscles are stretched on a daily basis to keep them healthy.

Just like the other tissues in our body, our muscles need to be well circulated and healthy. Most of us spend hours a day in the same posture making our muscles short and tight. This creates everything from adhesions and connective tissue that is not needed, decreased circulation, decreased flexibility, increased risk of tendonitis, and increased aches and pain.

Muscles that are most affected by lack of stretching:

• Lower back
• Upper back
• Neck
• Forearm

• Hip and pelvis

When stretching it important to remember that each stretch should be held for 20-30 seconds and repeated at least 3 times, this ensures the full stretch of each muscle. Stretching takes very little time out of our days, and is a simple way to maintain good health for our bodies.

Reason why we should stretch each day:

• Reduce muscle tension
• Increase circulation of blood
• Increase energy levels
• Reduce muscle tension
• Decrease the risk of injury