Why you should stretch.
Discover the importance of flexibility for longevity.
I am good with strength training and hitting the gym most days.
And cardio?
I have the base covered, too, mostly with walking.
But there is a third area that I don’t do well. Or enough.
It’s focusing on flexibility.
Can you touch your toes without bending your knees?
Do you practice yoga?
If you answered no, today’s writing is for you.
I will share three reasons you should focus on flexibility.
1. Flexibility Reduces Health Problems
Stiff muscles and joints, often caused by a lack of flexibility, can lead to various problems, including the following:
- Poor posture
- Aches and pains
- Injuries
When your body can’t move as it should, it can overcompensate, putting excess strain on other areas.
This overuse can lead to injuries.
Conversely, good flexibility allows for freer movement, reducing wear and tear on joints and soft tissues and decreasing the risk of injury.
2. Flexibility is Associated with Better Heart Health
Did you know that there is a link between flexibility and heart health?
Stretching facilitates blood flow, helping your heart get adequate nutrients and oxygen.
A first-of-its-kind meta-analysis showed:
Stretching can reduce arterial stiffness, lower heart rate, and diastolic blood pressure, and enhance endothelial function. The endothelium is a thin layer of cells that lines the inside of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels.
These factors are all critical in preventing arteriosclerosis, a condition characterized by the hardening and thickening of artery walls.
More Proof That Stretching Improves Heart Health
A small study of 16 middle-aged Japanese men assessed the effects of four weeks of regular static stretching on arterial stiffness in middle-aged men.
Here are the study findings:
Just four weeks of regular supervised stretching improved flexibility. The practice also reduced arterial stiffness.
Stiff arteries are a heart disease risk factor.
This study is the first to demonstrate the ability of a short stretching program to reduce arterial stiffness.
3. Flexibility is Linked to Longer Life
I’m not the most flexible person.
Does this portend an early death for me?
No, but less flexibility is associated with premature death.
Here’s some evidence.
Researchers examined the health records of over 3,000 people aged 46 to 65, collected over 13 years.
They created a “flexibility score” called the Flexindex based on how well people could move seven joints.
They then tracked how long people lived and whether being more or less flexible was related to their risk of dying.
Study Results: Discover the importance of flexibility for longevity.
During that follow-up time, about 10 percent of subjects died.
Women were generally more flexible than men.
More flexible people were less likely to die during the study period. This finding was true for both men and women, even after considering factors like age, weight, and overall health.
Less flexible men were almost twice as likely to die as more flexible men and less flexible women were almost five times as likely to die as more flexible women.
People with reduced flexibility lived an average of 12 years less than people with good flexibility.
Tips
Here’s what I previously wrote about stretching:
- Consider doing dynamic stretches before your workout to get your muscles ready.
- Use static stretches after exercise to drop your injury risk.
- Are you a beginner? Please start slowly.
- Aim for at least five to ten minutes of stretch on non-exercise days. This approach should improve your flexibility and lower muscle tightness and pain.
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