Why You Should Add Stretching To Your Workout Routine

Stretching is often left out of most stretching routines, which is a shame, considering how many great benefits there are to a well-rounded stretching routine.

Stretching will not give you the aesthetic benefits of bicep curls, but it can definitely improve many aspects of your existence, limit pain and injuries, and improve your overall quality of life.

5 Reasons You Should Incorporate Stretching Into Your Workout Routine

Reason #1 – Alleviate Lower Back Pain

This is one of the biggest problems in America as 80% of Americans will experience lower back pain at some point in their lifetime. Lower back pain is the 5th highest reason for hospitalization and costs Americans $50 billions dollars every year.

Sitting in a chair all day, combined with a lack of physical activity can lead to severe lower back problems. With a solid stretching regimen, however, back pain can be a thing of the past.

Basic stretches of the hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes, and back can prevent and/or cure all of your back problems.

For those of you that have experienced severe lower back issues understand how debilitating it can be, and how amazing it would feel to not have any lower back pain.

Reason #2 – Improve Your Athletic Performance

Who wouldn’t want to improve athletically? By improving range of motion of and flexibility, many movements become easier, which help with athletic performance.

For example, a swimmer with a greater reach in the water will be a faster swimmer. Stretching also helps improve vertical jumping ability. Studies have shown that static stretching (stretching in place) increases fast-twitch, power exercises, such as jumping.

Improve your flexibility and you may start dunking on people at local pickup basketball games!

Reason #3 – Reduce Muscle Strains and Pulls

If you become more flexible, you will acquire a greater range of motion, which will help decrease the probability of getting a muscle strain or pull.

Muscle strains are caused by over-extending your muscle, but if you are very flexible and have a good range of motion, you will be able to extend pretty far, so it would take a pretty extreme movement to experience a muscle tear.

Muscle strains, pulls, and tears are no fun and can keep you out of the game for a long time. Engage in a good stretching routine so that this does not happen to you!

Reason #4 – Heal Injuries Quicker

Stretching improves blood flow to the area being stretched. Increased blood flow promotes healing of the muscles and the removal of the muscle’s waste products.

By stretching, blood flow quickens delivering nutrients to muscle and cartilage. This can help speed up the recovery of injuries, as well as prevent muscle soreness after a workout.

Less muscle soreness means that you can work the same muscles again sooner. It will also help in your day-to-day activities to be able to move without pain!

Reason #5 – Alleviate Stress

We all experience stress. Stress causes a lot of problems to us and cause a myriad of health problems.

Prolonged stress can cause muscles to become very tense. By stretching, we can loosen up some of those muscles that have become tight due to stress. This can help lessen some of our stress.

It also releases endorphins when we stretch, which causes us to feel better and our mood to improve.

And if you engage in a yoga stretching routine, the meditative aspect of the class can substantially help decrease your stress levels as well.

Keep In Mind…

When stretching, make sure to get an adequate warm-up before? beginning because stretching cold muscles may cause an injury. Also, do not perform static stretching before a bodybuilding workout or a high-intensity sport, like . Static stretching decreases power output and will decrease your ability to perform explosive exercises.

Perform static stretching after a workout, and do dynamic-style stretching before the workout.