Stretching is highly beneficial for everyone
As we age, we need to keep working at maintaining our strength and flexibility. Unfortunately it gets harder the older we are. It’s most important that we do it to keep moving and to remain healthy. Yoga and Pilates can be great ways of stretching.
You can stretch anywhere, anytime
Everyone knows exercise is important, but what about stretching? Does stretching take a back seat to your exercise routine? If so, it might be time to rethink this, especially if you find strenuous exercise difficult as you age. Also you can do stretching anywhere at anytime, so it’s easy to fit into any routine.
Stretching may help you in many different ways
Research has shown that stretching can help improve flexibility, and as a result it improves the range of motion of your joints. Better flexibility may:
- Improve your performance in physical activities and sports
- Decrease your risk of injuries
- Help joints move through their full range of motion
- Enable your muscles to work more effectively
Stretching also increases blood flow to the muscles. You may learn to enjoy the ritual of stretching before or after hitting the road for a run, doing a dance class, playing sport or any physical exertion.
Stretching after an injury
For people who’ve sustained injuries, the injured areas can remain susceptible to further problems. Stretching can really help. Choosing the right sort of stretching during the rehabilitation period after an injury will have a tremendous effect on the speed of your recovery. Equally choosing the wrong type could lead to further injury and a very slow recovery.
So what type of stretching is best for which phase of the recovery process?
The recovery process of a soft tissue injury consists of a number of phases. It’s important that the right type of stretching is employed for each phase. You should seek professional advice after an injury to ensure you’re on the right track.
Colchester acupuncture recommends stretching
Colchester acupuncture can recommend Brad Walker‘s book: “The anatomy of stretching.” You can purchase it on Amazon. Prices start as low as £7-8 for a second-hand copy or Kindle version. It’s fantastically well set out with excellent diagrams. This is the place to start with your stretching regime.
Strengthening and stretching work well together to keep your body strong
Strengthening work as well as stretching is highly recommended too. Try a body-pump class at the gym or have a few sessions with a personal trainer who can guide help you with good techniques that suit you and your medical history. They can often advise on a simple (free) weights programme. It doesn’t need to be all “fab-abs” and “great-guns”. It’s about keeping the body strong and weight exercises will help maintain bone density as well.
