How To Become More Flexible Every Day

Do you make time in your week for regular stretching? For many women, squeezing in a workout can be hard enough, let alone making enough time for a proper cool-down and stretching as well. BUT you should keep this in mind: flexibility can actually help you to get more out of your workout. More flexibility can help to reduce the chance of an injury and may allow for a greater range of motion. Plus, limited flexibility can even contribute to small muscle aches and pains, which no one wants to deal with!

4 small things you Can do each day to be more flexible

Here are four simple things you can do every day to become more flexible:

Check your posture

Good posture not only helps out your digestion, it can also contribute to your flexibility as well. When you slouch, your muscles tend to stiffen up, which can restrict your movement. By standing or sitting up with your shoulders back, you give the discs in your spine a chance to decompress, allowing them to move more freely. 

Do some limbering exercises

Next time you’re sitting at your desk, or in front of the TV, think about doing some limbering exercises. This might be something simple like rotating your shoulders or wrists, or extending your arms and rotating them in circles. You might prefer to do a few hip flexor stretches after you’ve been sitting all day instead. While these might not feel like tough exercises and you probably don’t think of them as increasing your flexibility, limbering exercises can help by activating your range of motion. 

Foam roll

Feeling stiff is often due to having tightness in the fibrous tissue and muscles of your body. Foam rolling can help to loosen up tight areas, which can allow your muscles to lengthen out and give you a better range of motion. The more often you foam roll, the less likely your connective tissue will become stiff, so you may find stretches becoming easier! Plus, there are plenty of other foam rolling benefits for your body as well. 

Take a few big strides

It might sound a little goofy, but adding in a longer stride as you walk can help to stretch out your legs. Taking a longer stride every once in awhile makes your calf muscles work a little harder. Another way of doing this is taking stairs in twos or threes — it’s a nice little mini-stretch for your legs. Those small stretches can all help to make a difference to your flexibility in the long-term.  

If being more flexible is one of your goals, small steps can be really important. Doing these few little things can put you on the path to better flexibility AND help you to feel less stiff after your workouts. Why not give them a try and see if you notice a difference?