Why You Should Stretch Everyday

In this article, you’ll learn and discover why you should stretch every day.

There are countless benefits to stretching. Although stretching is often thought to be something to incorporate just after working out or just to prevent injury in general, regular stretching is a healthy daily habit. There are certain areas and muscles you should be stretching every day, such as your core, back, neck, and hamstrings.

Here are 5 reasons why you should stretch every day:

Stretching increases blood flow

Stretching can improve your circulation and get your blood flowing. This helps to shorten recovery time and keep your body engaged through every movement. This is especially helpful if you are trying to work out, as you will want the reduced muscle soreness and shorter recovery time that increased blood flow from stretching gives you.

Stretching improves your posture

Poor posture is a common result of muscle imbalances. Stretching is a way you can focus on different muscle groups and in turn, improve your posture. This is especially important before and after strengthening exercises so your body can feel into the stretches after being worked out.

Stretching can help build and stabilize core muscles

Stretching is an effective way of how to stretch abs and stabilize your core. Having a stable core is crucial in order to support and protect your back and body, as well as feeling more confident in being able to carry yourself. Through each exercise and stretch, engage your core to build and stabilize core muscles. You can find tailored workouts and examples of how to stretch abs that you can do at home via apps such as 30 Day Fitness. It is also beneficial to engage your abs doing daily activities such as walking, sitting up straight and lifting grocery bags up.

Stretching can relieve stress and calm your mind

Stretching can help tame tension in your body and calm your mind. As you relax into a stretch, you’ll feel your body and mind slowly calm down and ease into it. Many people find their shoulders to be raised and the muscles tight and their back full of tension, for example, during times of physical and/or emotional stress. When you stretch and relieve these tight muscles and focus on your breathing, it relaxes your body and your mind and you can focus on areas of your body that you feel hold the most tension. As you stretch, incorporate some mindfulness exercises into your stretch for the greatest benefit. 

Stretching will improve your balance

With stronger muscles and improved flexibility that stretching gives you, you will notice a great benefit in having better balance. Your body will feel more stable as it functions with less stress, and activity as simple as walking will be done with greater ease and stabilization. 

Everyone may not have known that stretching had so many benefits, but now that we do we should really consider it to be part of our daily routine.