Light on stretching, a full -fledged physical activity that softens muscles, stretch your body and evacuate stress. Benefits, exercises … We tell you everything.
The word “stretching“comes from the English” to stretch “, which means” stretch “in French. Formerly acclaimed by athletes to prepare for effort and then to recover after a sports session, this practice which is very inspired by yoga is today taught as a full physical activity. She is one of the big families of sweet gyms With (among others) Qi Gong and Soft Gym. As there are different styles of yoga, there are different stretching methods. The best known is that developed by the French physiotherapist Jean-Pierre Moreau in the 1960s, entitled Stretching Postural®. It is a static technique of stretching and muscle contractions that is punctuated by specific types of breathing. It is a rigorous and precise method which acts on the whole body but which also has many psychic benefits.
What is stretching?
As the name suggests, the stretching consists in stretching the muscles of the body, after having contracted them for a few seconds, in order to improve their elasticity, to fight pain, to gain flexibility and to harmonize the body. A whole program!
What are the benefits of stretching?
Even if stretching is not an activity that allows you to spend physically, its body benefits are numerous and appreciable short and in the long term. Stretching relax the tendons and ligaments, which allows the body to acquire more flexibility and better support Over the sessions. Stretching also helps to prevent and relieve muscle and joint pain, as well as back pain. Finally, as it requests all muscles, including the deepest, Stretching also has effects on the silhouette, which it extends and makes more harmonious. Stretching also has beneficial effects on the mind. It is a real “well-being” practice that allows you to gently evacuate stress and work on its concentration capacities.
Stretching, for whom?
Like many sweet gyms, stretching is accessible to everyone, without age or physical form. There is no contraindication to his practice, and even the elderly and pregnant women of more than three months can launch without risk. If stretching is a very inclusive activity, there is still a category of the population for which its practice is highly recommended: athletes! Indeed, Stretching has no equal to avoid aches after effort, but also upstream, to relax the muscles before soliciting them. Be careful not to confuse heating and stretching: the first raises body temperature while the second softens the muscle tissues.
Many sports halls in Paris or elsewhere, offer stretching lessons, but This activity can also be practiced at homein the comfort of its interior thanks to YouTube videos for example. In order to be free to move, it is recommended to put on a light and comfortable outfit, and not to wear shoes (and even fewer socks, to avoid slipping). Certain movements that must be made on the ground, a yoga carpet can also be useful. Stretching can be made at any time of the day, but it is in the morning, in bed, and in the evening, just before bed, that their effects are the most beneficial.
