Benefits Of Stretching When You Wake Up

First thing in the morning, your brain is struggling to wake up, so you might not realize your body is doing the same thing. Stretching is a preemptive strike against lethargy – one that will also help stimulate that sleepy brain and ease pain. Consider some practical reasons of benefits of stretching when you wake up.

MUSCLE TIGHTNESS

Think about how your body feels after sitting through a two-hour movie and how good it is to stretch your legs. Now, multiply that stiffness by four and you’ll understand the importance of a morning stretch to relieve muscle tightness. Stretching elongates the muscles, making them more flexible and that is a positive way to start your day.

JOINT STIFFNESS

Joint stiffness is one of the biggest problems after a long night of almost no movement, especially when you tack on things like having slept in a cold room. Stretching improves range of motion for joints, eliminating the stiffness and pain in those problem areas like your lower back, neck, and knees.

FULL BODY FLEXIBILITY

When you head to the gym to work your shoulders and chest, you start with a warm up, right? The Mayo Clinic explains that exercise causes your muscles to contract and that makes them tight. Your day is fraught with tiny workout sessions that you don’t even think about. When you walk from your car to work, you are exercising your legs and stressing your knees. When you sit down in front of your computer, you exercise your arms and shoulder joints.

While daily movement is not as strenuous as working out in the gym, it still challenges the muscles and joints.

ENHANCED CIRCULATION

Improving circulation to the extremities makes movement easier and relieves the muscle tension that builds up during eight hours of inactivity. A few stretches in the morning increases the muscles demand for blood increasing your heart rate.

WAKING YOUR BRAIN UP

The brain works as a computer to control every function in the body including respiration, muscle movement, and heart rate. A morning stretch activates all those things to bring the brain back online. It’s a powerful way to clear the cobwebs and wake up your central nervous system even before you have your morning coffee.

Without that few minutes of stretching, you probably feel tight and sluggish until midmorning. Why not give your body a morning wakeup call instead? Reach your arms towards the ceiling and then drop down to touch your toes. Ten minutes before breakfast is all you need.

At Alliance Spine and Pain Centers, we are proud to take a comprehensive and highly progressive approach to healing and pain management that allows us to treat each patient’s pain effectively. To learn more about methods to reduce pain or the benefits of stretching when you wake up, give us a call at 770-929-9033 or visit us here to schedule a pain management consultation.