One thing to remember about stretching is that stretching is natural in animals, especially mammals. Oops… maybe you forgot that people are definitely mammals, so what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Stretching is part of the natural order of your body as well in the bodies of other mammals. Have you ever watched a cat or a dog fall asleep? Have you ever noticed that the first thing they do when they get up is stretch? Yes!!! I mean, take a second and really think about it. They are stretching every time they wake up to get blood, which carries essential oxygen, flowing back into the other parts of their bodies.

Your muscles are like rubber bands. We all know that rubber bands are very stretchable and flexible, some more than others. You can make that rubber band stretch to its maximum length and ability if you do what? The answer: if you do stretch the rubber band out little by little, gradually increasing its range of motion with each repetition of pulling. The same is true with your muscles.

Before doing any extreme workout, it is important to stretch because you are gradually increasing the range of motion and the pull ability of your muscles. If you are participating in sporting event such as football, basketball, soccer or tennis, it is even more important. Why? Because you need to give your muscles a warming up and chance to perform at their highest potential, similar to the rubber band that we talked about earlier. You will enhance performance and prevent injury if you stretch before participating in any sporting event.

Remember the picture of the cats and dogs waking up participate in a stretching routine every single time. If you don’t know, most people don’t sleep soundly or squarely on their backs for the entire night. Some of us toss and turn. Some people change sleeping positions throughout the night. And of course the body is somewhat off balance, in the sense that your blood is restricted to certain parts of your body more than other.

Additionally, some parts of your body have the tendency to tense up more than other parts of your body. Stretching relieves that tension and tightness that our muscles may experience in the duration of your sleeping period. It does so my giving your body a chance to allow the blood to flow more freely thorough out different areas of your body.

Implementing stretching exercises into your workout program is a very important factor that you need. Stretching is essential to maintaining flexibility, strength and basic overall coordination in your body. Stretching is good. Stretching is fun and stretching will definitely improve your overall health and physical conditioning.