Let’s apply this to your muscles. If you don’t keep yourself moving, you may tighten up and lose your flexibility and agility.
So how do we maintain our mobility? Stretching and movement!
Stretching not only gives you length and movement but also aids in breaking up adhesions and releasing tight bands in the muscle.
Here’s another analogy: When a gate hasn’t been used for a long time, what happens to it? The gate may rust or become hard to open. Once the gate gets some use, the rust starts to break up and it frees in its movement.
Just like the gate, stretching allows oxygen and nutrients to get to the muscles and other areas of the body. This allows for healthier muscles and joints.
Regular stretching can also improve body performance and help in injury prevention.
Just a 5-minute stretching routine before you go to bed can make all the difference. Remember as the weather gets colder, a warm up and warm down after exercise becomes even more important. Try an active warm up, like a brisk walk or jog and a good stretch afterwards to avoid tightening up and injury in the cold.