With all this running and cycling my muscles (and hopefully yours too) are in need of a good stretch. That’s why I take about five to ten minutes minimum after every workout, making sure to show a little extra attention to the ones that need it. If you’re one of the countless people skipping out on post-workout stretch sessions you’re not getting all you can from your workout. Sure you’re home for dinner a little earlier, but is it worth the end result?

As we age, our muscles become less flexible – it can be chalked up to that old adage use it or lose it. I think it’s fairly well-known that when we don’t challenge our muscles to lift weight, they’ll take it as a cue from the body that they aren’t needed. Muscle that isn’t needed is used for energy and we’re left with a slower metabolism and an increased chance of gaining fat weight. Likewise, when we don’t stretch our muscles and encourage them to lengthen and become more pliable they’ll do exactly what they think is expected of them – nothing. Well that’s not exactly true, when we don’t stretch muscles that have previously been able to extend to a certain length, they will shorten. There’s a reason you could do the splits as a child while it’s difficult to bend down and touch your toes as an adult.

But all is not lost. With regular gentle stretching you can keep the flexibility you still have and even increase it, all the while helping your body recover faster from workouts and protecting it from injury. So what are you waiting for?

crystals working out stretching