Stand up, hold your arms out in front of you, bend at the waist, and try to touch your toes. Can you do it? Do you feel tightness in the back of your legs? Stretching your muscles and joints through something as simple as touching your toes is an important part of wellness and one of the simplest changes you can make to your current lifestyle.

Through the aging process, our muscles tighten, making everyday motions of picking something up off the floor to reaching for something on a top shelf difficult. Implementing a day-to-day stretching regimen can assist in making these activities a bit easier.

Simple stretches can have a huge benefit on your quality of life, including:

 

• Reduced muscle tension
• Increased range of motion in your joints
• Enhanced muscular coordination
• Increased circulation of the blood to various parts of the body
• Increased energy levels (resulting from the increase in circulation)

Implementing a stretching regimen now, even one as simple as a 5 minute wake-up routine, can make a huge impact on your health and well-being in the future. Muscles that are stretched and conditioned have an easier time handling the rigors or life, sports, and other activities.

As with any exercise regimen, start out slowly, and focus on making progress. Over time you will notice that your muscles can handle a greater amount of strain and that your aches and pains from the rigors of life are lessened.