Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Many Benefits of Stretching

By Pat Lowe

One of the most beneficial forms of exercise is stretching, particularly when done regularly. The reason is that it gives the body many valuable benefits. Experts have been extolling the virtues of stretching exercises for many years now. Millions of instructional stretching DVDs are sold each year.

If they knew the benefits they could get from regular stretching, more people might be interested in taking up this activity. The major benefit of stretching is that it improves your body's flexibility. When you do the exercises correctly, you strengthen the tendons attaching the muscles to the bone; this impacts almost all the body's muscles.

There is usually a lower chance of suffering muscle sprains and strains if you stretch often. The reason for this is that the body's muscles get used to moving in various directions. In addition, they become resilient enough to handle unexpected movements, which can lead to injury of the muscles or tendons. You can also improve body strength with regular stretching. This is achieved by the continual challenges placed on the muscles.

Because stretching is a low impact exercise, it is appropriate for people of all ages to do. Stretching exercises for seniors and people with limited mobility help them to regain lost strength and rebuild their muscles. The exercises are also appropriate for young children. Many places have classes where parents and their toddlers can stretch together in a group setting.

Your body responds to the exercise it gets from stretching by increasing its flow of blood. A variety of illnesses and disease can benefit from this. Your body eliminates wastes more rapidly due to improved blood flow. In addition, it improves the transfer of oxygen from the lungs to your major organs, such as the brain. Also, blood flow throughout the body to the muscles becomes faster. The health and strength of the muscles are improved dramatically.

Stretching is among the few exercises that benefits the whole body. Plus, the frequency or length of the exercises doesn't really matter. Doing stretching exercises frequently will provide a bigger benefit and faster results. But even moderate stretching can improve the health of the person doing the exercises and give their body more mobility.

The benefits associated with these low impact exercises are more than enough reason for everyone to stretch on a regular basis.

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