8 ways stretching makes your life better

Stretching is an often overlooked part of everyday life that has numerous benefits. Along with its benefits, it also can be very simple to integrate into your daily routine. It only takes a couple of minutes each day, and if done regularly, the advantages are unmistakable.

Stretching before and after exercise helps our muscles relax and results in increased flexibility. It can also reduce any soreness or aches that may occur due to the exercise.

Doing a few easy morning stretches increases blood flow throughout the body, wakes up the muscles, and gets our mind ready for physical activity for the day ahead. You can also do some stretching exercises just before going to bed - that'll assure a more restful, deeper sleep.

Besides these stretching benefits, these exercises can help improve balance and posture which aids in helping us stay safe from injuries during our everyday activities as well as when doing more strenuous exercises.
---------------------------

[someguyusa]

This is a great video, except for the part about slouching. Slouching is not the cause of back pain. On the contrary, maintaining "good posture" aka muscle tension to keep your spine erect continually throughout the day, is often a leading cause of back pain and muscle tightness. Sure, you need to brace when you lift something, but you also need to relax when you're not doing something strenuous.

I'm a PT student and I've seen this over and over in my job shadowing and learning from actual physical therapists. It even worked to improve my own back pains and tension since I too once thought that slouching was bad for you. It's just another myth that has no scientific basis whatsoever, so slouch away!