Does Stretching Burn Calories or Not?



Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009

by Jayaprakash D Pai

Does stretching burn calories, is a normal question which everyone wish to ask. It is a common practice that one need to stretch his muscles, before starting exercise, but nobody knows why they have to do like that? Nobody likes to start their exercise after stretching, as they hate the word Stretching, without knowing what it can do to them if they properly follow it. What people feel that stretching does not burn any calories, build muscle, or improve cardiovascular fitness, and so some people see it as a waste of time. There are some real benefits to stretching and let us find them.

Stretching helps maintain your flexibility, whether your exercise or not. This is very vital especially for those elder ones or middle aged, as they will feel some joint/muscle problems as they get older. If you are flexible you'll tend to be more healthy, more elastic, move more easily, and less clumsily. You won't have any balancing problem, that a majority of older people may have due to becoming more flexible from stretching.

Stretching also improves your posture to very certain extent. You won't have any back problem if you correctly follow a Stretching regime.

Flexibility corrects all muscles imbalances. Stretching helps with muscle imbalance.

I always stretch before exercising.

Stretching should be followed before every exercise, very similar to "warm up" just before your "Aerobics".

How To Stretch Safely:

Keep in mind that overstretching can increase your risks of being hurt during exercise. Here are some tips to help ensure that you are getting the maximum benefit out of stretching before or after exercise:

* Start gently and smoothly. When you're first starting out as a newbie, you may not be able to stretch your joints very far. Don't push it or you may end up damaging your tendons, ligaments or muscles. Do as much as you can.

* Stay gentle. The American College of Sports Medicine notes that the "no pain, no gain" method of stretching may destabilize your joints. Try a gentle stretch of the muscles you use for 10 to 30 seconds. If it hurts, there's a reason.

* Match stretches to the exercise you do. If you're doing Aerobics, make sure that your legs and ankles have been gently stretched; if you lift weights, stretch your arms and legs.

Remember, to consult your Doctor before starting any exercise program, particularly if you are 40, have existing health issues or a prior significant injury, or have suffered in the past from heart disease or stroke.

Do you found the above tips helpful? To find more on the various other information on the subject visit me at http://does-stretching-burn-calories.blogspot.com/

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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Paul Schroeder 2 years 205 days ago.
72 fans.
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» left by Anonymous 2 years 205 days ago.
Dear Paul, You can visit the site I mentioned in my blog for every answer that you are seeking!!
» left by Yamileth Medina 2 years 205 days ago.
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Welcome to Searchwarp! Obviously any kind of movement (no matter how slow, like stretching) burns more calories than sitting still watching TV - but I wouldn't rely on stretching alone to lose weight. It's still an important part of fitness though, so you don't get hurt!
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