Everything You Need to Know About Stretching Your Body

Both before and after performing any workout or sports activity, you’re taught to stretch your body to flex your muscles and avoid injuries. While that’s the logic behind it, simply stretching won’t assure that you’ll avoid an injury, especially if you’re executing it incorrectly in the first place!

If you aren’t careful with how you stretch, you can end up hurting yourself, which will lead to poor performance in the long run. Depending on the kind of exercise you’re doing, you’re supposed to incorporate the proper types of stretching to truly avoid the chances of getting an injury.

To help you avoid injuries in the future, keep reading below to learn about some facts on stretching.

Stretching has No Effect on Muscle Soreness

Research shows that stretching before or after an exercise doesn’t decrease muscle soreness. Instead, it’s best to rest for a day, minimise your activities, or place an icepack over the affected area to ease the pain and recover. You can also consider taking painkillers so you can continue your daily routine without worrying about any aches and pains in your body.

Stretching Improves Flexibility and Range of Motion

While stretching doesn’t prevent muscle soreness, it can improve your flexibility and lead to better performance. A full range of motion helps you avoid injuries and accidents and allows you to work your muscles efficiently. 

Stretching Prevents Injuries and Accidents

Actively stretching your muscles and joints before you begin any exercise or sports-related activity can prevent the chances of getting injured or experiencing an accident. As long as your body is all warmed up, you’re more alert and flexible, so you end up performing better.

Stretching Stimulates Blood Flow 

Moving and stretching your body can stimulate your blood flow, allowing it to stream throughout your veins and into your muscles, especially the parts that require the most energy. Doing so can prevent injuries and keep you active for an extended period.

Stretching Improves Your Posture

If you’re stuck at home or in an office most of the day, you’ll often be sitting down or lying in bed, which affects your posture and health. Stretching every few hours is vital so you can loosen your tight muscles, straighten your posture, and keep your muscles active.

Static Stretching Decreases Your Performance

According to research, static stretching before an athletic activity can reduce a person’s ability to perform well, and could even lead to injuries. Long duration static stretching is also known to decrease your strength, power, and speed and limit your competitive capabilities.

Dynamic Stretching is Good for Warm-Ups 

On the other hand, dynamic stretching when warming-up can help increase your strength and performance before any sports or athletic activity, weightlifting competition, or cardiovascular exercise, based on research. 

Active movements that allow you to use your joints and muscles is considered a dynamic stretch. This includes hip circles, lunge with twists, arm circles, burpees, squats, and pendulum legs, to name a few. Even mimicking the movement of the exercise you’re about to do is considered dynamic stretching.

PNF Stretching Improves Range of Motion

PNF stretching stands for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching. It combines passive stretching with isometric stretching through a series of movements, which can help you acquire full control of your body’s flexibility.

Research shows that PNF stretching is an effective way to achieve gains faster because it improves your muscular range of motion. However, it should only be done by people who are capable of controlling the stretch reflex of their muscles—so take care before proceeding with an overly complicated stretch!

Conclusion

There are plenty of benefits to stretching properly that you may want to consider if you want to improve your performance during any athletic workout. A good pre-workout stretch can increase your flexibility and range of motion and prevent potential injuries from occurring! Aside from that, stretching throughout the day also stimulates your blood flow and influences good posture. For the best results, you should consult with a specialist if you’re thinking of undergoing assisted stretching to help you learn more about the limitations of your body.

Are you looking for a Flexologist in Sydney? Stretch Studio focuses on stretching and mobility solutions to cater to your concerns. We offer quality service and have a wide range of amenities to meet the needs of our patients. Get in touch with us today to find out about our treatments!