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Stretching is extremely critical during any form of physical activity because it improves the flexibility of your muscles, prevents tightness and shortness in your muscles, and inevitably reduces the risk of injury. It is highly recommended to engage in a short stretching session after being vigorously active as it keeps the muscles strong and helps maintain a strong range of motion in your joints (Harvard, 2019). Moreover, it is extremely recommended that you stretch almost every day even if you don't play sports or workout because your muscles eventually tighten when you are continuously inactive. Tight muscles can cause severe pains and chronic conditions.
I'm sure just like me others sometimes forget to get up and stretch due to daily pressures. In fact, as a student, I spend several hours a day sitting down on my chair and hopelessly staring away at my laptop. Sitting down for hours doing school work can cause severe back problems and tightness in the legs. Have you ever sat down for so long that when you got up, it was hard for you to walk? That is what occurs when the tight muscles are trying to inhibit your walking. According to a study by Fatima et al, (2017) it was evident that the greater majority of students in their study had tightness in their hamstrings and this factor was positively correlated with long-durations of sitting. Hence, it is important to get up and stretch after a long period of being inactive.
Speaking on the importance of stretching, it is extremely important to note the wide use of stretching in rehabilitation. Many doctors or physiotherapists will prescribe/recommend certain stretches and exercises to their patients with severe chronic pain in their backs, neck legs, and so forth. According to a study by Page (2012) certain muscle stretches helped patients with some orthopedic conditions. Stretching can help reduce the pain and control it from getting worse.
In my opinion, whether you're an athlete or a regular student you should be stretching almost every day. It is extremely beneficial in preventing general injuries and tightness in your muscles. Moreover, it can help reduce the risk of obtaining certain back or leg pains from sitting too long. Stretching is also recommended by doctors or physiotherapists to help patients with severe pain. conditions. Lastly, stretching leads to more flexible muscles so if you're looking to become more flexible, stretching is necessary. Hence, Stretching applies to everybody and should be utilized in everyone's daily routine.
REFERENCES:
Page P. (2012). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International journal of sports physical therapy, 7(1), 109–119.
Fatima, Ghulam & Qamar, Muhammad & Hassan, Jawad & Basharat, Ayesha. (2017). Extended sitting can cause hamstring tightness. Saudi Journal of Sports Medicine. 17. 110.
Harvard Health Publishing. (2019, September 25). The importance of stretching. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-of-stretching
Thank you for sharing such a relevant and thoughtful blog post. I agree stretching is very important for maintaining muscle flexibility. From a training perspective, stretching before exercise is considered warm up. I think stretching is important during physical activity, as it maintains and improves the range of movements in muscles and muscle-tendon joints. In fact, different stretching exercises are widely used to improve flexibility acting on the muscle tendon-unit, in order to improve the range of motion (ROM) of the joints (Thomas et al.2018). As a student, I can relate to the problem of muscle stiffness and numbness that occurs due to prolong periods of sitting on the chair infront of the laptop doing schoolwork. Sitting down for prolonged…