Stretching Your Body And Muscles For Fitness And Health

The human body is an amazing, yet complex system. It consists of all the parts that most people know by now and the main components are the skeleton, skin, organs, blood and muscles. However, we tend to take all these parts for granted and few of us are aware of what our bodies are really capable of. For one, we all know that exercise is good for us, but we are not always aware of what happens behind the scenes when we utilize and stretch our muscles in the way they were intended.

Core and regular muscles

There are two main categories of muscles in your body. These are the core muscles and the regular muscles. Regular muscles can be divided further into the parts of your body, like back, abdominal and neck muscles. These regular muscles are visible muscles. On the other hand, core muscles are the muscles that support your frame and lie deep within your body. Exercising one type will result in exercising the other type. The stretching of your muscles will affect not only your physical fitness and strength.

The importance of core muscles

As mentioned above, core muscles are deep-lying muscles and cannot be seen. They usually lie close to your spine and help to support skeletal structure such as your pelvis, back and shoulders. To focus on your core muscles, you will become more aware of your posture and actions that influence your posture. Stretching your core muscles will strengthen them and lengthen them. When you lengthen your core muscles, it will make you more flexible and it will decrease injuries caused by incorrect movements or posture. Although core strengthening is aimed at exactly that, correct posture and muscle use can also help in weight loss. Using your muscles correctly burns more calories and your body will starts to use the excess fat that was stored for energy.

Tearing muscles to strengthen and build them

This is a concept that bodybuilders make use of to create that physically strong and muscled physique. When a muscle is torn and then rebuilt, more muscle mass is created. When stretching your muscles with the correct exercises and under a controlled environment, you can successfully build and strengthen the muscles in your body. This is achieved with weight bearing exercises. However, it is very important that you adjust your diet accordingly since your body will require more fuel to perform the various exercises. It is also especially important to increase your protein intake. Proteins make up the building blocks for the muscles and without sufficient protein intake, you take the risk of damaging your muscles permanently.

Toning instead of building the muscles

If you do not want to look like a body builder, stretching your muscles is still important if you want to tone them. Correct stretching and working with weights, will tear your muscles and rebuild them, albeit at a lesser scale. This creates lean body muscle that will increase calorie burning and allow for a leaner body. It is often advisable to alternate your stretch exercises with cardiovascular exercises. This will supply sufficient blood flow to your whole body and muscles. It will increase the uptake of important minerals to maintain a healthy body and create the desired result. The more lean body muscle you have, the more effective your cardiovascular training will be.

The benefits of stretching exercises

Increased strength and weight loss will be inevitable when you perform stretching exercises. That is usually the main purpose when you start with an exercise routine. But as you proceed, you will notice other benefits. Your health is enhanced as you become more fit and you will have fewer injuries while doing daily activities. With increased blood flow, your organs receive more blood and needed nutrition. Your stamina increases as your muscles become stronger. Oxygen uptake increases as your lungs are utilized more efficiently. Your overall mood also increases with the release of more endorphins, your feel good hormone.

A last thought

It should be noted that while you are stretching your muscles, you also stretch your heart and brain. A stronger heart means that the blood pumped in and out of the heart is stronger. You significantly reduce the risks of heart attacks, blood clots and strokes. Meanwhile, you may not physically make your brain stronger, but better blood flow to the brain increases oxygen uptake and will result in a more vigilant brain for information uptake.

Safety first

A word of caution, though. It is important that you always consult your physician before embarking on an exercise routine.