Stretching For Fun, Fitness, & Fall Prevention

Balance and flexibility are key facets of physical fitness. Like endurance and strength, they diminish with age unless we work on them.

Working on balance and flexibility helps prevent falls, which can be disastrous. And just like it’s never too late to start working on them, it’s also never too soon. Anyone engaged in fitness should include stretching in his or her routine, whether beginning or experienced.

There’s a reason people have always talked about being “strong enough to bend,” you know.

Plus, stretching feels good. It lowers stress and improves posture and circulation. It helps us perform everyday activities, like bending over and turning our heads.

How Much Stretching Should I Do?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), you should work on your flexibility for each major joint in the body twice a week. Each joint should be worked at least 1 minute. Or approximately 10 minutes each time, totaling 20 minutes a week. That’s great news because most stretching modalities want you to do it for at least an hour, most days a week.

There seems to be little proven benefits to stretching any longer than this. If you enjoy it, great. However, if you want to get the most out of increasing your flexibility and get on with your day, know that this doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment.

What Works My Flexibility?

There are several modes of stretching/mobility that are safe, low impact, and effective.

Foam Rolling

Often called self-myofascial release (SMR), foam rolling is like a deep tissue massage, but at a fraction of the time and price. For around $25 you can get a foam roller.

While research isn’t clear as to why foam rolling works, it is clear that it does improve your flexibility.

When starting you will most likely find SEVERAL tight, painful spots. I promise that it does get better the more you do it.

This is one of my favorite modes of ‘stretching’ or mobility work because it’s quick, effective, and doesn’t have a negative effect on sport performance.

Yoga

Almost 40 million Americans enjoy yoga, according to the 2016 Yoga in America Study. About one-fifth are in their 50s, and another one-fifth are over 60.

Yoga is great for balance, strength and bone density. It helps with back pain, blood pressure and anxiety. The focus on  breathing benefits the mind, body and spirit. In my opinion, the breathing aspect is the primary cause behind all the reported effects of yoga.

You don’t need any special equipment, and you can do it anywhere, although we recommend a few classes to start.

And yoga is highly adaptable to everyone’s physical needs and limitations. Let your instructor know about any aches, arthritis, surgeries, etc.–and he or she will guide you to a modification.

Pilates

Pilates focuses on the core muscles. It is somewhat similar to yoga, but it foregoes the meditative or metaphysical aspects. It provides a safe, low-impact workout that often involves working on a mat on the floor. Also like yoga, Pilates generally moves at a gentle, deliberate pace and focuses on proper form and breathing. It can build strength, reduce back pain, and improve posture, coordination and balance. Pilates focuses on building strength in the core muscles.

Tai chi

The slow, gentle movements of tai chi (pronounced TIE CHEE) have been practiced in China for thousands of years, and today by millions of people around the world. The ancient martial art is sometimes called “meditation in motion.” And remembering the steps and their sequence is good for brain health and focus. Studies show tai chi helps people with arthritis and Parkinson’s disease, as well as stress management, muscle tone, lower blood pressure and other aspects of good health. It’s also one of the best things we can do to improve our balance while standing still and also while moving. In other words, tai chi is great for preventing falls.

Active Mobility

I’ve written before about the differences between flexibility and mobility. From what I’ve seen working on trying to improve flexibility, the most effective modality outside of reducing neurological threat through drills like deep diaphragmatic breathing is active mobility.  Active mobility is moving the joint deliberately, and under control in the full range of motion, often focusing on the end ranges of motion.

Flexibility Is Just 1 of 7 Components of Optimal Health & Fitness.
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