Why Stretching Is Important For Workout Success

Why Stretching Is Important For Workout Success

If there’s one thing that many people neglect when it comes to their workout plan, stretching is it.  They devote a high amount of time and energy to performing their cardio and resistance training, but as soon as that’s finished, they’re getting out of the gym as quickly as possible – they have a life to lead!

But, if you’re skipping the stretching component of the workout, you’re really missing out on a number of key benefits that it provides.

Let’s take a quick peak at the main reasons why stretching is so important to workout success.

It Enhances Your Range Of Motion

The very first reason why stretching is a must is because it’s going to help to enhance your range of motion so that you can move throughout your exercises better.  If you want to see the full benefits that any exercise has to offer, it’s important that you work the muscles through the full movement pattern.

It would be like performing a squat but only going partially the way down.  If you really want to see maximum benefits, you must go as low as possible as this is when the glutes will really be called into play.

If you’re very inflexible though, this will be next to impossible therefore you won’t see the benefits you could be.

We do tend to lose range of motion with age, so if you aren’t stretching, it’s only going to get worse from here on in.

It Keeps You Injury Free

The next important reason to add stretching to your routine is because it keeps you injury free.  If you’re not stretching after a workout, your muscles are going to be tight and tense and any force that acts upon them could end up pulling or straining a ligament.

Those who are more flexible often find they do suffer injuries a lot less frequently as they are quite limber and able to accommodate to forces acting on them.

An injury will quickly sideline you from all workouts and really hinder your progress – in fact, it’ll put a temporary stop to all progress entirely.

It Reduces Post-Workout Muscle Soreness

Finally, the last reason why you must be sure to add some stretching to your routine is because it will help to control post-workout muscle soreness.

Stretching is going to help remove the lactic acid build-up from the muscle tissues that’s responsible for that high level of pain and discomfort you often experience the next morning when getting out of bed, so by stretching at the end of the session, you can curtail this.

Stretching will allow the muscle fibers to relax and lengthen so that you don’t feel quite so tense and sore later on.

So as you can see, stretching is really a must-do for success.  It only takes ten minutes total at the end of your workout but this is some of the best ten minutes you could spend if you want to see success.  Get in the habit of doing it now and you’ll never think twice about skipping it again.