Stretching to Stay Young

“Stretching is like the breath of life.” — Michael Murphy

The past few years has seen me focus on stretching as an important part of my daily routine. Stretching can be tough for some folks, but I have found that it can keep you healthy at any age. As you age, your body begins to change in many ways, including muscle loss, joint pain, and strength loss. It’s more difficult to stay youthful because of these changes, as well as other factors like lifestyle, environmental influences, and health issues. In this article, I will discuss how stretching can keep you active, energetic, and pain-free. A full list of stretching routines can be found below and what they include.

Capsules

Capsule stretches are effective for strengthening muscles. They help decrease muscle stiffness, improve flexibility, reduce back and shoulder pain, and strengthen knees, elbows, shoulders, and hip joints. For optimal absorption, try a 20–30 minutes stretch before a workout or a 30–60 minute stretch after an exercise.

Leg Raises (Upper & Lower)

Leg raises help stretch and tone muscles that don’t work well with conventional sitting exercises and crunches. Leg presses and leg curls also help relieve tension from neck problems, and knees and shins. Although both leg raises may yield similar results, there’s actually a wide range of motion of motion between each leg lift. So if you need to increase mobility, consider a lower leg raise instead of a higher one. However, make sure to use a comfortable surface to maintain optimum form and stability, such as a floor mat.

Kneeling/Standing Crunches

Kneeling and standing crunches will add stress to the core muscles that do not get enough of a regular workout. These two types of crunches, which I find myself doing often, are incredibly beneficial because they keep our abdominals well-stimulated. The main benefit is that they burn excess fat and calories while keeping us feeling young. Kneeling crunches may also help with those pesky lower back pain for those who suffer from chronic back and hip pain without having the chance to take time off for a long period.

Hip Mobility

Hip Mobility, or HIIT, involves jumping jacks and pushups on opposite sides of the body. When performing this exercise, maintain a good balance so the hips will be stable and prevent injuries to your lower back, knee, back, or ankle joints. Remember – sit on a high or low seat, and jump up to the peak of your ability. This keeps your abs tight throughout the whole duration and prevents injury in those places when you have to go backwards. Because of this, HIITs also build cardiovascular endurance, strength, and speed.

Strength Exercises

These strength training activities help with upper and lower body mobility. For example, to increase mobility, try a 10-minute warm-up and 1–2 minutes cool down followed by three sets of squats, push-ups, pull-downs, or deadlifts. High intensity interval training strengthens muscle tissues at rest and increases muscle growth. If it's cold outside, try adding 10-minute stretches in between the set of squats, push-ups, and other muscle-building exercises.

Warm Up

I consider myself fortunate, because it never rained today. Despite being inside out, the weather didn’t seem to affect my ability to stretch to full potential. While running errands, working at home, walking around the block, going grocery shopping, and taking the kids to school, I find myself using a lot of stretching beyond the normal warm up. Once you leave the house, try stretching for 15–20 minutes, then repeat when you return. You should aim to stretch a full hour after you wake up in order to keep muscle tissue strong.

When you think about it, stretching every day is an essential part of staying fit, which includes everything from improving athletic performance to creating a happier, happier life.

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