Flexibility can decline as people get older, especially if they don’t stay active. Even athletes can have problems with flexibility if they make endurance, speed or strength their focus. It’s easy to gain or keep flexibility with stretching and using a foam roller.
Improve Flexibility with Stretching
Stretching your muscles will elongate them, allowing for greater range of motion in your normal activities. As your muscles work, they contract and can stay that way unless you stretch them out again. You’ll want to focus on all areas of the body because it’s common to have more flexibility in one area over another or with one side of the body over the other side.
Stretch your muscles until you feel a slight pull or a bit of discomfort. Don’t go to the point of pain. If you do this daily, you should notice a difference in your range of motion in just a few weeks.
Improve Flexibility with Foam Rolling
Foam rolling is a type of self-massage. It involves using a tube and rolling your body over it. When combined with stretching, some studies have shown that the routine increases flexibility. Using a foam roller helps your muscles relax, which makes them looser and more flexible.
Therapists use foam rollers to work out knots in the muscles and tissue. As the muscles relax, the range of motion is increased. To get the most benefit out of foam rolling, it should be done after a workout and before stretching. Once the rolling has relaxed the muscles, you will find you can stretch farther for greater range of motion than trying to stretch alone.
No matter what workout you do, add stretching and foam rolling to see even more improvement in flexibility and greater results for your goals.