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4 Ways Stretching After Workouts Improves Your Health

4 Reasons You Need to Be Stretching After Workouts

Finding a workout routine that fits perfectly with your schedule can be difficult. Add the challenge of finding one perfectly tailored to your specific fitness needs and feeling hopeless. But really, it can be easier than it looks. Sure, there are so many options out there being touted as the most effective workout routines or methods, so it’s easy to get caught up and distracted by the trendy terms of the fitness community. But don’t let buzz words like HIIT routines and full-body workouts cause you to overlook simpler — but just as important — fitness components. One of the most important? Stretching after workouts. Of course, you want to make sure you’re toning and getting your heart rate up during your intense workout. But incorporating things like stretching exercises into your fitness schedule is vital for achieving a complete and healthy lifestyle. Stretching exercises are fundamental to your whole body wellness. Even a five-minute stretch can give you significantly improved health benefits, especially after repeated, intense workouts that can cause overworked muscles. It can be hard to remember to do when you’re already strapped for time, but stretching after a workout has numerous health benefits that’ll not only impact your body today — it’ll benefit your overall health even 10+ years from now as you age. Here are some of the benefits to remember stretching after workouts:

1.Less pain and better posture.

Sometimes when you’re engaged in an intense workout, you’re not holding yourself in the best posture. We get it! When you’re thoroughly exhausted near the end of your cardio workout routine, it’s easy to hunch over as you make it to your goal. But consistently rounding your shoulders and hunching your back can cause severe back and shoulder pain in the long run. Even if you maintain adequate core strength and posture during your workout on the MaxiClimber or other fitness equipment, you also still have the threat of your smartphone and other devices turning your gaze downward, inevitably causing neck pain and poor posture. Poor posture can quickly become a habit that’ll negatively impact your overall health. Why not help alleviate some of that damage as a part of your daily workout routine? That’s where stretching after workouts comes in. When you purposefully engage your body in meaningful stretching after workouts, you will be doing your body (and overall nervous system) some good! Regardless of whether you’re choosing static stretches or ones with movement for dynamic stretching, working on your muscles after your workout routine is essential for your overall wellness. A recent study found that incorporating stretching exercises with other parts of your workout routine like cardio and strength training can not only ease back and shoulder pain but encourage proper alignment for better posture. Worried that old injuries will make this impossible for you? Think again! According to Harvard researchers, stretching regularly can help existing back injuries and prevent future ones from occurring.

2.Improves circulation

Stretching isn’t just good for your muscles. It’s beneficial to your blood flow too! Scientific studies show that daily stretching can improve overall circulation whether you’re stretching after workouts or you’re simply setting aside time for 5 minutes entirely on its own. Engaging in regular stretching exercises, whether before or after a workout or even without a workout routine attached at all, can cause positive benefits to your overall circulation. That’s how powerful stretching exercises can be. One recent study even found that “four weeks of regular static stretching reduces arterial stiffness in middle-aged men.” That means it’s never too late to start incorporating stretching exercises into your workout routine to see the positive physiological side effects. Why is this important? When blood flow is not impeded, a wide variety of benefits follows. Muscles can heal quicker after an intense workout, and overall organ function throughout the body will work better, too — including your brain! Improved circulation simply affects every part of your body, from your head to your toes, in a positive way. You’ll even heal wounds faster because your blood will be able to address the area and clot more efficiently. Less sore muscles, better clarity of mind and overall improved bodily function? Who could say no to that!

3.Affects recovery time and eliminates stress

When ending an intense workout routine, all athletes know the importance of getting their heart rate back down to normal in a reasonable amount of time. Recovery after a workout is essential to the overall health, and the calorie burn you’re aiming for. Stretching after workouts aids in this goal. Studies show that stretching exercises help lower heart rate quicker, making stretching after workouts important to the overall workout routine. One of the reasons stretching exercises are so effective in helping your recovery process is because they are extremely effective in alleviating stress. When lower back stretches, calf stretches, a deep hip flexor stretch or even a hamstring stretch get activated, your body releases tension within your muscles. Muscle tightness can be part of everyday activities and not just the result of an intense workout, so stretching after workouts is significant because it’s a natural time to work it into your fitness routine. When tension is released, hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which can be elevated during your intense workouts, are also dealt with healthily. The result is a relaxing effect that lowers your heart rate and improves your mood.Even a 5-minute stretch can help you achieve many of the stress-reducing and recovery-improving benefits post-workout.

4.Increased range of motion and flexibility

Stretching exercises are important to include in your daily workout routine also because they’ll improve your overall quality of life, especially as you age. Stretching after workouts will not only keep your muscles healthy, it’ll help keep them strong and flexible. Flexibility is crucial for our bodies as we age, as it is necessary to maintain the range of motion in our joints. It’s definitely a use-it-or-lose-it situation as your muscles will eventually shorten and tighten with a lack of flexibility training. According to researchers at Harvard, this poses several issues for your body, including putting you at risk for joint pain, strain, and even muscle damage. Joint pain is especially a common ailment with old age. Stretching after workouts may seem like an inconvenience, especially if you aren’t sore right now. But doing stretching exercises regularly starting today will actually help you prevent or reduce the pain you may experience as you approach your senior years.

Your MaxiClimber Coach Is Here To Help

We know you love your MaxiClimber because it’s the best full-body workout available. But that’s why it’s even more important to do stretching after workouts. We want you to feel all the fantastic benefits that exercising on the MaxiClimber has to offer, and you’ll only achieve that if you take care of yourself and work stretching exercises into your regular workout routine. Fortunately, we have trainers and coaches here to help you develop the ultimate workout routine with MaxiClimber. Follow along on a recorded or live class from our website and get the guidance you need to achieve the total body wellness you deserve for years to come. Click here to learn more about how MaxiClimber can help you to achieve your fitness goals.