In order to find the right treatment for stiff muscles, it's helpful to know what is causing your issue. Exercising causes your brain to increase its production of certain neurochemicals such as serotonin, a chemical which helps produce feelings of joy, happiness, and elation. The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. Being more flexible of course increases your range of motion and allows for increased physical output and performance. Having more blood flowing to your brain means that you are more alert and also that your brain has the ability to produce an increased amount of beneficial neurochemicals, both things which go a long way in making you feel more energetic. It’s thought … Bushman B, ed. Muscle soreness and fatigue is in part caused by those suffering from too many micro tears, or in other words, you did curls with the 75-pound dumbbells when you should have been using the 50 pounders. Those small tears are ideal places for cholesterol to build up. First of all, stretching helps to increase the circulation of blood throughout your body and that counts for your brain too. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition. … While you can stretch anytime, anywhere, proper technique is key. The muscle spindles are accustomed being at a "resting length". Make sure that you stretch both sides. Before you plunge into stretching, make sure you do it safely and effectively. Just about everybody will suffer from it sooner or later. As we mentioned before, stretching on a regular basis goes a long way in improving blood circulation. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tight muscles can cause your back to hunch and the rest of your muscles to tighten which can limit mobility, make you walk funny, and cause some serious pain too. After all, your organs need blood to function and the more blood they get the better they do. Tightness at one muscle will cause weakness at the muscle that performs the opposite activity. There was one study which showed that stretching increased the ability for people to balance when they stepped foot on a stabilometer, a device meant to challenge people’s balance, pretty much by trying to make them fall down. Accessed Dec. 16, 2019. One of the biggest benefits that you can reap from stretching on a regular basis, especially before and after exercising, is that it can help you to greatly improve your posture. Stretching helps to limber up your muscles, keep them loose, and thus keep your whole body in the position which it is supposed to be in. According to the American Council on Exercise, stretching is an integral component of fitness and should be a part of any workout program. Having high blood pressure causes your arteries to stretch too far and form small tears. Physical activity (adult). Yet another huge benefit that comes along with stretching on a regular basis is that it can actually help you increase your overall energy levels. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for several seconds. The facts you want – and need – to know about everything from health and nutrition to fitness, travel and finance are offered in an attractive, easy-to-read format. Some of us, for example, are simply born with looser ligaments and more mobile joints – and that’s not something you want to work on changing, as ligaments connect bone to bone and are important for overall stability in the body. Physical activity and exercise in older adults. Elsevier; 2018. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Avloniti A, et al. Also remember that stretching doesn't mean you can't get injured. FREE book offer – Mayo Clinic Health Letter, Improve your performance in physical activities, Help your joints move through their full range of motion, Enable your muscles to work most effectively. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. 2016; doi10.1519/JSC.0000000000001606. 2nd ed. Some of us, for example, are simply… Static: Stretching a muscle as far as you can without pain and then holding it there. 2nd ed. Also, try performing a "dynamic warmup." Looser, more limber, and longer muscles allow you to be more flexible thanks to the fact that your muscles can stretch out longer than they ever could. Bright Side shares with you these exercises developed by a Spanish fitness trainer. Acute effects of static vs. ballistic stretching on strength and muscular fatigue of ballet dancers and resistance-trained women. As we mentioned before, when you are stiff it takes an increased amount of energy to anything and everything that involves physical movement. Muscle pain can be caused due to working out too hard and lifting too much weight, something that has to do with those micro tears we mentioned before. What this means is that you will be able to do more physical activities with the amount of energy that you have. The contracting muscles squeeze more blood back to the heart and replenishes oxygen to the lungs. Being more flexible is very important for a number of different reasons and it isn’t just because it can help increase your physical performance. The way you would do them is after you train a particular bodypart you would go through the above list of stretches and perform the ones that stretch the muscles you just worked. There's plenty of debate about whether stretching before and/or after running is useful. All rights reserved. If you have a chronic condition or an injury, you might need to adjust your stretching techniques. Tight muscles can cause your back to hunch and the rest of your muscles to tighten which can limit mobility, make you walk funny, and cause some serious pain too. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Just stretch the muscles that you trained. Does stretching take a back seat to your exercise routine? This will remoisten your eyes which is important as people generally blink less frequently when using the computer. It can make a difference in how your muscles respond to exercise. Functional length is better; hypermobile is trouble. Mayo Clinic offers appointments in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota and at Mayo Clinic Health System locations. Stretching will make you feel happier, make you more flexible, help you balance better, and so much more. Stretching tends to feel good because it activates your parasympathetic nervous system and increases blood flow to your muscles. Book: Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life! AskMayoExpert. By K. Aleisha Fetters , Contributor May 19, 2017 By … Increasing your flexibility. After all, athletes and hardcore exercise enthusiasts wouldn’t stretch before and after any kind of physical activity if it didn’t actually hold any benefits. Stretching exercises are regularly included in warm-up and cooling-down exercises; however, contradictory findings have been reported in the literature. The chest expands drawing in more air. These static exercises target key muscles and prepare you safely for dynamic, explosive moves, and better running. You control the skeletal muscles, the muscles … The simple fact is that stretching elongates your muscles so they function more effectively. How Long to Stretch - what does the research say? Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Being more flexible also helps to do things like relieving daily pains, helping you move faster, helping you lift more, and it can also go a long way in reducing the chances of suffering from injuries. As we talked about before, stretching can help lower your blood pressure. Something else that stretching can help you do is to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in your veins and arteries. 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