You know how important exercise is to leading a healthy lifestyle. You probably do cardio at least a few times a week and hopefully work on building strength and muscle, as well. One aspect of exercise that often gets forgotten is stretching. Leaving this important component out of your regimen can lead to you having to see an orthopedic surgeon in San Francisco. Here are the benefits of stretching regularly.
Tight muscles are much more likely to pull, strain or tear than loose ones. If that happens, you’ll need to see a sports medicine doctor in San Francisco. Stretching helps increase your range of motion so you can do more. You won’t have to worry as much during a tough strength workout when you know your muscles are flexible enough to stretch out and bounce back.
If you’ve been working on building a strong core and shoulders, you should be able to stand up nice and tall. However, if your muscles are too tight, it could be causing you to hunch over. Keeping yourself limber will lead to better posture.
Lower back pain is a common complaint amongst adults, especially those who sit at desks all day. You can build your core muscles, but if those muscles are tight, it puts excess pressure on your lumbar spine to keep your body properly aligned, leading to pain. The pain might get bad enough to have to consult an orthopedic surgeon in San Francisco.
If you want to perfect your pistol squat but can’t get low enough to do it, it might not be a strength issue. Increased flexibility will make it easier for you to achieve those difficult moves. When your hips and hamstrings are loose, you are able to get even lower in those squats.
Many adults develop knee problems as they age. Some will eventually need orthopedic surgery in San Francisco. A lot of it has to do with the pressure that we put on them every day. Short, tight and weak hamstrings create big imbalances in your legs and force your knees to do more work. Building lower body strength will definitely help, but you need to stretch those muscles out, too.
Stretching helps release tension in your body, but it also helps ease tension in your mind. Just 10-15 minutes a day of active stretching can calm your mind and give you a mental break. A class like yoga is designed to use stretches and flexibility exercises to help you clear your mind.
You don’t have to become an expert yogi to reap the rewards. You’ll see improvements simply by stretching after your other workouts. Still, if you can, you should try to do one long stretching session once a week, somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes. Making time to stretch deeply every week will make your workouts much better.
If you’re experiencing severe muscle pain that isn’t relieved by stretching and rest, or lasts more than a few days, contact Dr. Jeffrey Halbrecht for a consultation.
