The Importance of Flexibility

Flexibility and stretching is one of the main aspects of healh and fitness that is commonly overlooked by health professionals. Many see this as an after-thought of training, but as you will find out from this article, that view should become a thing of the past.

We should all place more importance on regular stretching, which can have a dramatic effect on your health and fitness. Here are the main reasons why you should stretch regularly:

1. Your muscles actually work more efficiently. Yes in fact the more supple/flexible a muscle becomes, the more efficient it gets in producing movement. This is because all of the muscles in the body have something called a "stretch reflex" which facilitates muscular movements. This stretch reflex becomes more efficient at producing body movements when your muscles are flexible, and in turn allows you to produce more power.

2. You will become more agile. The increased efficiency of your muscles will make movements easier during sport and during all daily activities. This therefore will leave you feeling more agile, which in turn will increase your sporting ability and health.

3. You will get fewer injuries. The more you stretch the less chance you will have of becoming injured. As we already know stretching allows your body to move more freely, and this means that actually performing all movements is easier and so less chance of getting injured. Also as the muslces become more efficient they become stronger, translating into more power and fewer muscular strains i.e injuries.

4. Your confidence will increase. Because you will be feeling better within yourself and moving better, your self-esteem and confidence in your ability to perform is going to rise and therefore your overall performance in your chosen activity/sport.

5. Your motivation to achieve your goals will increase. This is simply because with better performance and increased confidence, your motivation to reach your personal targets and to be the best you can be, will not only seem more achievable, but will be more achievable.

6. Stretching Aids Recovery. The final point that i am going to mention is the more regular stretching that you do before and after exercise, the better and quicker your muscles will recover for your next session. This is because as you stretch the lactic acid that you have built up during your session, will be flushed away quicker. Combined with a cool down, is an exellent way of increasing clean and highly oxygenated blood to the muscles, which will in turn clean out the lactic acid for your next session. If you do not stretch after exercise, you will find that your body is more fatigued for your next training session, whilst decreasing your performance at the same time.

As you can see there are some very important reasons why flexibility should be a top priority for all people that are engaging in any physical activity. I hope you have found this article interesting and a help to yourself. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section.

Article by Richie Bignell