A.M. versus P.M. Stretching

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

28 Mar 2006 07:00 PM

When it comes to stretching - what's better? Stretching out in the morning or stretching out at night? Truth be told one is not better than the other and both offer you a great deal. Let's talk about morning stretching first.

Morning Stretches

Stretching in the morning can help you warm up muscles that have lain prone all night. It can increase blood flow to your extremities. On cold mornings, it can help reduce the stiffness of arthritis and warm you up. It can help you improve your posture and get your body into proper alignment before the day gets started.

It's a great way to get you into a good head space before diving into the day with busy kids, errands and work. It also helps you avoid back pain when it comes to lifting and carrying, because your muscles are all warmed up.

Evening Stretches

Doing ten or fifteen minutes of stretching at the end of the day can relieve the built up stress and tension of the day. It can help you relax and resist problems like cramps when you go to sleep. Stretching can also help soothe your mind from the constant restlessness we all experience at the end of the day.

We're always going over everything we did, what we didn't do and what we needed to do the next day. Evening stretches can help you sleep better and sounder. Stretching is important to any workout, but it can also help you out in your daily activities.

There is no better or worse when it comes to evening or morning stretches. Both are good for you and if you can do both, you'll find yourself sleeping better, feeling better and more able to handle the curveballs that daily life can toss at you.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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ImAlive (40) 21 Apr 2006 06:39 AM

Something for you to research if you're interested... through the night the fluid between your joints (interstitial fluid) builds pressure in the static joints. Since youre range of motion is mostly limited at night the open spaces esp. in your spine fill with more fluid than they normally have at the end of the day.

This means that stretching in the morning, will condense the bursae and flush that fluid into your body. In essence, it becomes wasted. Damaging side effects include arthritic spine, as well as uremia.

Heather Long (16954) 21 Apr 2006 10:50 AM

I'll be sure to check that out! Thanks for sharing.