Most of today’s society is plagued with muscular imbalances due to repetitive patterns of movement which place undue stress on the body. That includes sitting or standing for long periods, and repeating the same movements overtime. Muscular imbalance are a result of poor movement of the joints, inappropriate muscles taking over the function of the primary muscles, and decreased nueromuscular control. Static stretching is a great way to correct this.

No matter what your fitness lever or your age, you can benefit from static stretching. Stretching will improve neuromuscular efficiency, improve joint range of motion, and improve the overall function of muscles. This helps to prevent injury and relieve pain.

You can perform static stretching before and after workouts. Before a workout stretching will help prepare your muscles for exercise and prevent injury. After exercise it helps to recover your muscles, increases flexibility which improves joint range of motion, and it also helps to reduce muscle soreness.

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle or you don’t exercise, it is even more important that you perform static stretching and flexibility exercises. Only stretch to a point of slight tension and hold the stretch for at least 30 seconds.

There are different forms of flexibility training, including static stretching, active stretching, dynamic stretching, and self myofacial release with a foam roller. Static stretching is the most common type of stretching seen in fitness today. It involves taking a muscle to a low point of tension and holding that stretch for a minimum of 20 to 30 seconds. This allows lengthening of the muscle being stretched by contracting the opposite muscle. This type of stretching is a great way to correct muscle imbalances.

Another type of stretching, SMR or self myofacial release using a foam roll, is also a form of stretching to correct muscle imbalances and to relieve knots in a muscle. It improves the length of muscles by placing pressure on “knots” which are bundled muscle fibers. It returns the body to it’s optimal level of functioning and it feels great. You can use this technique on most major muscles and combine it with static stretching.

Active stretching and dynamic stretching are another form of stretching. They should be performed only as a warm up prior to exercise and stretches are held for very short durations with several repetitions. Perform static stretching as part of your cool down.

Start incorportating static stretching exercises in your daily routine and not only will you improve your flexibility but you’ll feel great, reduce stress, improve you posture, reduce or prevent injury, counteract aging, and improve muscle recovery after workouts.