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As we age, the flexibility of our muscles and joints tends to decrease. You might begin to notice stiffness when waking up from a deep sleep, experience new aches in your shoulders or back, or find it harder to raise your arms without discomfort. Thankfully, there are methods to restore the flexibility that many of us have in our youth. Improving flexibility enhances circulation, muscle health, and stamina, can reduce the risk of injury, and may even help prevent conditions like arthritis and osteoporosis. Gaining flexibility requires consistent daily routines and stretches that target both muscles and joints.
Steps
Stretching Exercises
Focus on your shoulders. To improve flexibility in your shoulder muscles, it's essential to stretch not only the shoulder area but also the corresponding muscles in your chest.
- Stretch the chest muscles and hold the stretch for a while. Clasp your hands together behind your back, and raise your arms into the stretch, holding it for 10 to 20 seconds.
- Stretch each arm across your chest, holding it for at least 20 seconds per side each day, ensuring you don't push into any pain.
Stretch your hamstrings. As these muscles are prone to injury, especially for athletes, it's important to stretch them carefully once your body is properly warmed up.
- Start by sitting on the floor with one leg extended straight in front of you and the other leg bent. Reach forward with your hands to grab the foot of your extended leg, gently leaning into the stretch at the back of your thigh. Hold for ten seconds, then repeat with the other leg.
- An alternative is to perform the stretch standing: place one leg on a bench, stool, or chair, and reach down to grab your foot, leaning into the stretch. Switch legs and repeat.
Focus on your back. Divide this area into two parts: the dorsal (back) and the ventral (front), and focus on the muscles of the hip and spine.
- For the dorsal side, emphasize stretching your hip and hamstring muscles, but avoid overstretching the spine to prevent injury. One good stretch is to lie on your back and pull both knees towards your chest while bringing your head forward in a mild crunch motion.
- For the ventral side, try the cobra pose for stretching your abdominal muscles, along with a hip flexor stretch.
Target your legs. This is particularly important for runners and cyclists, as leg stretches help maintain a healthy range of motion:
- Sit on the floor with your legs extended straight out and as close together as possible. Stretch forward towards your knees, but don’t bend your head to face them—keep your head facing forward. This not only stretches your legs but also your neck muscles. If this hurts your neck, face your knees while stretching. You can also try sitting down with both legs straight out, then swing your right leg over your left leg a few times, and repeat with the left leg.
Improving Flexibility Through Stretching
Adopt a fresh perspective on stretching. In the past, athletes and fitness enthusiasts were often encouraged to stretch in ways that might actually limit flexibility. This method, called static stretching, involves holding a position for an extended period to force a muscle or joint into a stretch. While this technique can feel pleasant and targets specific muscles, it doesn't lead to lasting flexibility gains. Static stretching puts the body in a tense state, similar to how you might tense up during a car crash, and this can cause muscle damage.
- Instead of static stretching, approach stretching as a relaxing activity. Think of how those who stay relaxed in a car crash tend to have fewer injuries. Similarly, in stretching, relaxation leads to better results.
- Place your body into a stretch position and gently ease into it. Maintain focus and calmness, without forcing your muscles or joints.
- Active stretches are particularly useful before a workout. However, if you have tightness in a specific area, static stretches can be beneficial to loosen up that spot before starting your workout.
Stretch after warming up for exercise. Most professionals agree that stretching cold muscles can lead to injury or discomfort.
Instead, make stretching a part of your overall workout routine:
- Start with a light aerobic activity, like brisk walking, to get your blood flowing.
- Once your heart rate is elevated and your muscles are warmed up, stretch all of your major muscle groups.
- Engage in your main exercise, such as running or cycling.
- Finish with a cool-down, like a light walk, to bring your body back to a relaxed state.
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Stretch daily or at least six times a week. You don't need to do sit-ups, crunches, or push-ups to gain flexibility, but a well-rounded fitness routine should include exercises for both the muscle groups and their opposing counterparts. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 20 seconds, and do so as often as your schedule allows during the day or week.
- Try to stretch even on non-workout days. Don’t stress if you can’t do it daily—research suggests that stretching six days a week is ideal, but you’ll still experience benefits even with two sessions per day, 3-4 days per week.
- A great way to incorporate stretching is to make it a part of your morning routine and do it just before bed. Aim to stretch the ten major muscle groups: quadriceps (front thigh), hamstrings (back thigh), calves, chest, back (including the trapezius between the shoulder blades), shoulders, triceps (upper arm back), biceps (front arm), forearms, and abs.
Avoid overstretching. Rather than forcing yourself into challenging positions, focus on stretches that you can comfortably hold for the duration. A good stretch should allow you to breathe normally while you hold it for 30 to 60 seconds. If you can’t hold the stretch without pain or difficulty breathing, you’ve gone too far.
- Don’t worry about being perfectly still while stretching; flexibility isn’t about balancing! Feel free to move slightly to the left or right, or lean into the stretch. If you like, try stretching to soothing music and gently move your body to the rhythm.
Using Yoga to Increase Flexibility
Consider practicing yoga. Yoga is an excellent daily activity for boosting overall body strength and flexibility, as almost every pose will enhance flexibility with consistent practice. It's adaptable to any fitness level, and you can adjust its intensity to match your needs, all while improving your flexibility.
- Yoga poses like Warrior and Forward Bend can be modified to suit your current flexibility (you stretch only as far as you can), but with regular practice, your range of motion will gradually improve. The progress might be subtle at first, but stay committed, and you’ll soon notice a significant difference in your flexibility.
Try this simple routine daily. This quick routine can be completed in just a few minutes and is an excellent way to start improving your overall flexibility. Aim to hold each pose for five to ten breaths before transitioning to the next:
- Begin with Mountain Pose. Stand tall with feet together, arms extended at your sides, palms facing down, and eyes closed. This basic pose helps stretch your back, shoulders, and arms.
- Move into Child's Pose. Sit on your feet with knees touching the floor, then lower your upper body to the ground with your arms stretched in front of you. Stay here for as long as you need.
- Next, transition to Downward-Facing Dog. From Child's Pose, stand up and bend at the waist, placing your hands on the floor in front of you, with feet about hip-width apart. If this feels difficult, widen your feet a bit to make the pose easier.
Learn more to target specific areas. If you have a particular flexibility goal in mind, like achieving the splits or reaching your toes, there are yoga poses specifically designed to help. Consider attending a yoga class or following an online video series to discover more poses and further improve your flexibility.
- Yoga is a growing trend, and there are plenty of free fitness resources available online for all levels. If you're just starting out, search for "beginner yoga for flexibility," or if you're more advanced, try "advanced yoga for flexibility."
Learn breathing techniques. Yoga emphasizes both mind-body relaxation and discipline, and an important component of this process is proper breathing. Breathing correctly during yoga (and other stretching exercises) can enhance the stretch by helping your body relax and increasing oxygen flow to the muscles being worked.
- To see how this works, raise your arms as high as you can, then take a deep breath. You'll notice that your arms naturally extend even higher as you breathe.
- Inhale through your nose as you stretch, and exhale through your mouth while holding the stretch. Focus on expanding your abdomen—not your chest—as you breathe in.
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Weightlifting can shorten muscles, so it's important for weight trainers to stretch.
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Don’t over-stretch a muscle. Once you feel discomfort, release the stretch and try again gently.
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Stretching reduces the risk of injury in any sport and may slightly increase strength.
Warnings
- Never push yourself to the point of pain or extreme discomfort while stretching. Overstretching can cause injury. If you experience sharp pain during a stretch, and the pain continues even after you stop, it's important to consult a doctor or sports medicine expert for advice.
