We all know that that exercise is important but what about stretching? A lot of us think of stretching as the annoying thing we try to before exercise or skip after exercise because we don’t have the time.

But stretching is important in its own right and has many benefits of its own.

Here are 10 reasons to stretch.

1. Assist with Back Pain

Back pain is very prevalent in today’s sedentary society. It has been linked with tight lats, hip flexors, pecs, glutes and even calves.

Improving your flexibility can help to release that tension and relieve some of that pain[i][ii].

Tight muscles can also decrease your range of motion (ROM) (see below). When this happens, it can increase the risk of straining your back muscles as your body tries to compensate for this lack of ROM[iii].

Of course, if you are experiencing pain, it is always good to check with your health professional first.

2. Increased your Range of Motion

Human movements are dependent on the range of motion (ROM) available out of our synovial joints (such as our shoulders and hips)[iv]. ROM can be limited by joints or muscles and tight muscles can reduce your range of motion throughout your body (ROM link). This can inhibit everyday activities such as reaching overhead to get something out of a cupboard or carrying the shopping home. It can also slow the degeneration of our joints[v].

Research has found that body static and dynamic stretching can increase our range of motion[vi][vii].

3. Prevent Injury

Tendons connect your muscles to your bones and when you do not stretch, the tendon around the muscles stiffen. When your muscles are tight and your range of motion is decreased, it can lead to going past the range of motion you have leading to strains and sprains.[viii]

When you stretch, you increase your range of motion reducing the likelihood of injury to your muscles and tendons. Additionally, when your muscles are warm and stretched, movement because easier and more fluid, and there is less resistance on them which helps to prevent injury.[ix]

4. Increase your Flexibility

Tightness in a muscle can either be due to it becoming shortened (passive) or due to a muscle spasm or contraction (active). Stretching focuses on increasing the length of a muscle as a muscle tension is usually reduced as the length of the muscle is increased. Stretching can also increase the muscle’s tolerance to stretching (the body gets ‘use’ to being stretched and the natural defence mechanisms designed to protect the muscles from overstretching become less ‘active’)[x].

By stretching your muscles, you reduce tension by lengthening them and increase their tolerance to stretching increasing your range of motion at the joints allowing you to conduct everyday activities more easily.

5. Improve your Posture

Many of us sit for prolonged periods of time leading to muscle imbalances which lead to poor posture. The hunched over laptop/smart phone posture can lead to short hip flexors and pecs and weak and strained upper back muscles and butt muscles. This means when we stand up, our body is still in a curled over position (bad posture).

By stretching the chest muscles and hip flexors and strengthening the glues and upper back muscles we can restore their length and improve our posture.

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6. Calm Your Mind

While is great for the body, it also gives our mind a break too. This is helped when we focus on being mindful when we stretch. While practicing being mindful, we improve our attention regulation, our body awareness, our emotional regulation and our perspective ourselves.[xi].

7. Release Tension/Reduce Stress

When our muscles are chronically tense, they can reduce their own blood flow which leads to a lack of nutrients and oxygen[xii]. Stretching allows the muscles to relax and counters this. Additionally, as many people carry their stress in their muscles. When we are stressed, our muscles can tense as a defensive strategy. When we stretch, we reduce this tension and assist in stress management[xiii].

8. Increase Energy

As stretching allows for increased nutrient flow and blood flow, energy levels increase leaving us feeling refreshed and invigorated[xiv]. Flexible joints also require less energy and a flexible body moves more efficiently[xv].

9. Improve Circulation

As we mentioned earlier, stretching can increase blood supply to our muscles and joints allowing for greater nutrient flow. Improved circulation can improve recovery time and reduce muscle soreness[xvi].

Photo by magicmine/iStock / Getty Images

10. Prepare Body for Exercise

Stretching before exercise also helps to loosen them up and gets the body prepared for the movement and impact of the upcoming activity[xvii].

[i] https://www.livestrong.com/article/332519-what-are-the-benefits-of-good-flexibility/

[ii] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/

[iii] https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching

[iv] Page, P. (2012). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International journal of sports physical therapy, 7(1), 109.

[v] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/

[vi] https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching

[vii] Page, P. (2012).

[viii] https://www.livestrong.com/article/332519-what-are-the-benefits-of-good-flexibility

[ix] https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/blog/archive/healthy-habits/why-stretching-extremely-important.

[x] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/

[xi] https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching

[xii] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/

[xiii] https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/blog/archive/healthy-habits/why-stretching-extremely-important.

[xiv] https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/blog/archive/healthy-habits/why-stretching-extremely-important.

[xv] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/

[xvi] https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching