Is Stretching That Important

Is stretching that important?

Everyone has heard it or experienced it in some fashion or another on how beneficial stretching can be.

To keep it short and sweet, the purpose of stretching, despite popular belief, is to increase blood flow to

the muscles, not increase its length. The increase in length is an arbitrary benefit that comes with the

consistency of stretching.

When muscles are tight they squeeze and slow the blood flow through our vessels. This is detrimental

because the muscles will then, in essence, starve. Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to the muscles for

growth and more importantly, repair and recovery. If a muscle goes without, it would be like starving

yourself - it gets weak, breaks down and ultimately stops functioning

properly.

The importance of stretching cannot be overstated. Stretching should be

done between 3-6 times a day. Yes, I said it, 3-6 times daily. The purpose

of this, like eating, is to allow blood to flow consistently throughout the

day and help relax and repair the muscles from a long day of activity or

worse yet, inactivity like driving, sitting at a desk or the sofa. The reason

we get "tight" or feel inflexible after we sit for hours is due to the basic

idea that the muscle is not allowed its nutrients via blood. The less blood

the less healing, repair and recovery a muscle receives.

Now, add this up over years and years of sitting or living a sedentary

lifestyle and you find yourself becoming very tight and opening yourself

to injury. Stretching should be done 3-6 times daily, holding each stretch

for 30 seconds. If you feel the need to stretch prior to activity, never

stretch any one muscle for more than 4-6 seconds and it is preferable to

do an active warm up over static stretching.

Don't overlook the benefits of stretching. Make sure it is a regular part of your fitness program.