- According to new research published in the Health & Injuries, regular stretching can do more than prime your muscles for action and prevent injury—it can also reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.
- increases your blood flow and reduces the stiffness in your arteries stretching increases your blood flow and reduces the stiffness in your arteries.
How to Use Your FSA/HSA on Eligible Fitness Gear, faster recovery, and reduced injury risk. But new research in the Health & Injuries suggests the practice could have even bigger health benefits than you think.
Researchers looked at 39 men and women who were assigned to either a control group without stretching or a group tasked with performing leg stretches five days a week for 12 weeks.
The stretches they did were passive, sometimes called static—rather than the more active type, also known as dynamic or resistance-based—and involved five sets of four specific stretches done for 45 seconds each, with a 15 second rest between.
How Your Running Shoes May Affect Your Foot Strike:
- Fastest Marathon Runners
- owner of Minneapolis-based Fit Studios
- London Marathon Results
- Lying Hamstring Stretch
After the 12 weeks were up, those in the stretching group showed increased blood flow in their lower legs and upper arms, and reduced arterial stiffness, leading researchers to conclude that this type of stretching could help prevent diseases related to vascular issues—like heart disease and diabetes.
Additionally, researchers noted that there was significant improvement in ankle and knee joint range of motion for the stretching group.
RW+ Membership Benefits COVID-19 global pandemic, the study’s authors stated that increased stretching could be especially helpful now that we’re generally staying in our homes more, as a way to improve risk factors for heart disease, stroke, Nutrition - Weight Loss.
If you’re ready to incorporate more passive stretching into your workout routine—which can also help reduce running-related soreness and assist in muscle recovery—be sure you’ve got the timing right, according to suggests the practice could have even bigger health benefits than you think., owner of Minneapolis-based Fit Studios.
He told Runner’s World Nutrition - Weight Loss dynamic stretches before exercise and passive stretching after. The static stretches can help during a cool down to help you lower exercise-related stress on the body, and also helps extend and elongate muscles that have been shortened during a run.
By contrast, dynamic stretching before a workout should replicate what you’re going to do next, Leventhal said. For example, if you’re going to run, you should consider doing walking lunges Aaron Leventhal, C.S.C.S.
[Stay injury free on the road by getting on the mat with published in the.]
Not only could you make your runs more efficient by focusing on stretching correctly, but it seems you could be doing your heart a favor as well.
Elizabeth Millard is a freelance writer focusing on health, wellness, fitness, and food.
