Never underestimate the power of a good stretch! There is a growing amount of research discussing the benefits stretching has on our overall musculoskeletal health. Staying mobile and working on our flexibility can have such a positive effect on our long term, physical and mental health.
1. Stretching can prevent and reduce pain
The modern world spends a great deal of time in a sedentary state. Aka, we don’t move enough, watch hours and hours of Netflix, or glued to our laptop, 9-5. This lifestyle can lead to backpain, stiffness in our muscles and generally feeling all the aches! Spending a little bit of time each day stretching out our major muscle groups can really help alleviate symptoms of pain and prevent injuries from occurring.
2. Stretching helps with flexibility and mobility
As we get older, or settle into life, people will stop asking, ‘what’s your deadlift PB?’ and will instead ask, ‘can you help me in the garden?’, or ‘any chance you can give me a hand with the painting and decorating?’. Adult life..! All of these activities require core strength, healthy muscles, limbs and joints. And that is exactly what stretching on a regular basis encourages. Apologies in advance for all the ‘help’ requests you’ll be getting from your friends and family!
3. Stretching helps with blood flow and oxygen
We always feel more awake after a good morning stretch. Imagine if we did this more regularly for all of our muscles! Stretching can help increase blood flow to our muscles and around our bodies, which increases the level of oxygen travelling around our bodies too – hence making us feel more energetic and ready to take on the day!
4. Stretching supports all forms of exercise
Whether you’re a yogi or power lifter, stretching can increase your performance and endurance during exercise. Why? Because you are nurturing and caring for the key muscles and joints you need to perform in your primary choice of exercise.
5. Stretching encourages breathwork and mindfulness
We are constantly doing. In fact, the term ‘email apnea’ refers to an unconsciously holding our breath when involved in day to day, work related tasks. Taking some time to stretch and breathe into those stretches can relieve stress, encourage oxygen to travel through your body and give you some time to…relax!.
At purestretch, we love that our workouts not only encourage us to stretch, lengthen and feel strong, but we have so much fun when reaching for our toes or swinging our legs around!
Try one of our short workouts today, maybe for 5 days if you can, and let us know how you feel!