Stretching improves your flexibility and the benefits of flexibility may:
- Improve your performance in physical activities
- Decrease your risk of injuries
- Help your joints move through their full range of motion
- Enable your muscles to work most effectively
Don’t consider stretching a warmup. You may hurt yourself if you stretch cold muscles. Before stretching, warm up with light walking, jogging or biking at low intensity for five to 10 minutes. It is best to stretch after a workout when your muscles are warm.
Always stretch both sides of you body equally and mainly focus on this than trying to achieve flexibility similar to a dancer or a gymnast. If your flexibility is not equal on both sides it may be a risk factor for injury.
Stretch in a smooth movement, without bouncing as you may injure your muscles and could contribute to muscle tightness.
Once in a stretch breathe normally and hold the stretch for about 30 seconds. Do not aim for pain, you should feel tension while you are stretching but not pain. If it it hurts you have gone too far, therefore ease to where you don’t feel pain and then hold the stretch.
Thai Chi and Yoga gentle movements help with flexibility and some of these specific movements could help reduce falls in older adults.
Aim to stretch about three times a week either at the the end of a workout or any other time, after you warmed up your muscles for at least 10 minutes.