Flexibility isn't a skill only for dancers. In fact, David Geier, the director of sports medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina tells CNN.com that he counts flexibility as the third pillar of fitness, next to strength and cardiovascular endurance. Flexibility can serve you well as you age, helping you and your body stay limber and prevent tendon and ligament-related injuries like sprains. Making stretching a daily priority can help you stay flexible for a healthier body overall.
Step 1
Stretch before and after you exercise. While it's tempting to finish a round on the elliptical machine and head home, stretching after exercising can help cool down your muscles. Your tendons, muscles and ligaments can cramp after exercising, causing muscle soreness that limits your range of motion the next day, warns Bella Online. Stretching can help relieve some of the cramping for a better workout.
Step 2
Improve your posture to help keep your level of flexibility high. Slouching and other common behaviors can actually shorten muscles so you can't move around as easily, according to CNN.com. By using the correct posture for sitting, standing, lifting and other common daily activities, you ensure that your muscles stay long and limber so you have better mobility.
Step 3
Practice yoga to move your body in new ways and test muscles and ligaments that aren't used as often as others. Yoga poses, like Eagle Pose, Tree Pose and Big Toe Pose cause you to push your body into new positions so you experience a full range of motion and stretch the muscles that are sometimes ignored. Consider joining a yoga class, or borrow a yoga DVD from the library to get started, suggests MayoClinic.com.
Step 4
Keep your body fit by exercising on a daily basis. While stretching can help you stay flexible, remember that flexibility is only one pillar of fitness. Strength training through resistance or weight lifting can help your muscles stay strong, while cardiovascular activity helps burn fat to keep your body lean. Teaming strength training and cardiovascular activity with flexibility ensures that your body continues to work the way that it should, even as you age.
Step 5
Stretch every day, not only the days that you go to the gym. Find the time throughout the day to take a break from work and stretch your body in order to avoid cramped muscles due to poor posture or repeated activities like heavy lifting. It is an ideal way to take a break throughout the day while developing your flexibility.
