Health Benefits Of Stretch Therapy
Welcome to the world of stretch therapy! Here, you'll discover the incredible benefits that come with incorporating stretch therapy into your routine.
Say goodbye to stiffness, improve your flexibility, and enhance your overall well-being. Whether you're an athlete looking to optimise performance or someone seeking relief from everyday tensions, stretch therapy offers a holistic approach to unlock your body's potential.
Stretch Therapy for Muscle Health
Muscles increase their flexibility in response to techniques like stretching. This is largely due to the stimulation of receptors that tell your muscles to relax or contract.
In the short term, stimulating these receptors leads to the relaxation of your muscle fibres.
Over time, stretch therapy leads to more permanent elongation of your muscles through changes to the resting length of the tissue itself.
Much like having a facial where you stimulate the collagen, the micro-tears that occur in muscles when stretching stimulate them to repair, and that creates a longer and a stronger muscle.
Tissue Flexibility and Joint Range of Motion Improvements with Stretch Therapy
Flexibility and range of motion go hand in hand.
Having greater range of motion gives joints and muscles greater flexibility and movement. Also, increasing the flexibility of the tissues around a joint will increase its range of motion.
The range of motion in a given area typically increases immediately after a stretch therapy session.
With regular stretching, range of motion increases become more permanent. Connective tissue structures and resting muscle length will adapt to the stretch therapy and maintain improved flexibility.
The techniques we have taken from Thai massage are known to improve the circulation of the fluid in the joints, reducing friction when they are moved. This can improve joint mobility and range of motion.
The reduction in joint stiffness makes activities like walking or participating in physical tasks more comfortable for the body.
Improved Circulation, Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Levels
Regular low-intensity stretching can increase blood flow to tissues and reduce blood pressure. The increase in circulation to muscles brings oxygen and nutrients to tissues and plays a role in decreasing muscle soreness post-workout.
Massage that incorporates yoga like stretches are known to improve circulation, which brings more oxygen to muscles and other tissues. This may prevent injuries and improve the athlete’s ability to recover after exercise.
Studies have found that an eight-week stretching program was better than brisk walking for those looking to reduce high blood pressure levels.
Stretching is also known to help lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
How Stretch Therapy Can Help Posture and Gait
After an assisted stretch you are likely to feel as though you are standing taller.
Static stretching of the hip flexors and extensors may also improve gait in older adults.
Curvature in the upper back that makes a person appear hunched over is caused by tight pectorals or anterior deltoids which pull the shoulders forward.
By lengthening those muscles and strengthening the antagonist muscles, a client’s posture can be corrected or improved significantly.
Stretch Therapy For Pain & Stress Relief
Stretching has been used among athletes and rehabilitation centres to alleviate pain caused by anything from sports injuries to car accidents. Restricted movement can cause pain, inhibit movement, and create stiffness and achiness in our bodies. Stretching has been found to counteract these effects.
Our body reacts to stressors by contracting or tensing up. The longer tension remains in the body, the tighter the muscle tissues get.
Stretching alleviates tension by slowly opening up the muscles on a cellular level. Our muscles are made of thousands of muscle spindles that stretch and contract by sliding past each other.
Stretching also stimulates the body’s parasympathetic nervous system to release endorphins, our body’s feel-good hormones. As a result, many people feel calmer and have a clearer mind after stretching.
Relaxation combined with the energising and invigorating effects of an assisted stretch help people feel mentally and physically restored.
Energy Lines or Sen
Most practitioners of Thai yoga massage believe that there are various Sen, or channels, of energy within the body that correspond to different parts of the body, such as the bones, muscles, blood, and nerves. Some Sen also affect the mind and consciousness.
The theory in Thai yoga massage is that tight muscles cause blockages within different Sen.
These blockages reduce the flow of life energy, which results in stiffness, pain, and illness. Thai massage uses different techniques that either open or constrict different Sen to correct the flow of life energy.
At Stretch and Soothe, we like to combine our scientific understanding of myo-fascia lines with the benefits of yoga like stretching.