Benefits of stretching
According to stretching master Bob Anderson in his classic best seller, Stretching: 30th Anniversary Edition
- Reduce muscle tension and make the body feel more relaxed
- Help coordination by allowing for freer and easier movement
- Increase range of motion
- Help prevent injuries such as muscle strains
- Make strenuous activities like running, skiing, tennis, swimming and cycling easier because it prepares you for activity; it’s a way of signaling the muscles they are about to be used
- Helps maintain your current level of flexibility, so as time passes you do not become stiffer and stiffer
- Develop body awareness, as you stretch various parts of the body you focus on them and get in touch with them; you get to know yourself.
- Help loosen the mind’s control of the body so that the body moves for “it’s own sake” rather than for competition or ego
- Feel good