Stretching is an important aspect to any strength training or aerobic activity program.  It warms the muscles, keeps the limbs pliable for rigorous activity and it helps keep you stay flexible.

In past postings I’ve talked about the efficacy of stretching and whether dynamic or static stretching is best for athletic performance.  But there’s another reason why stretching is important, and it has nothing to do with enhancing one’s athletic performance or improving one’s range of motion.

What it has everything to do with is the health of your heart, as recent studies suggest flexibility may be related to arterial function.

Japanese researchers realized this after conducting a study of people over the age of 40 and applying the basic principle that if our limbs are elastic, our blood vessels will be more elastic as well, thus increasing blood flow throughout the body.

To assess the participants’ flexibility, researchers from Japan’s National Institute of Health and Nutrition had them bend at the hip to see if they could touch their toes, or, ideally, touch the ground.  They then took their blood pressure, which among other things tests the elasticity of the body’s arterial walls.

And just as they suspected, researchers discovered that the people who couldn’t reach their toes or beyond tended to have higher systolic blood pressure levels (the first number doctors give you when they tell you your blood pressure) than those who could reach their toes.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kenta Yamamoto, the study’s lead researcher, said, “We believe that flexibility exercise…should be integrated as a new recommendation in the known cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise.”

The study is published in the American Journal of Physiology.

There are lots of opinions out there regarding the efficacy of stretching.  Some even argue that stretching increases the likelihood of getting injured.  I’ve never quite understood the reasoning behind this mode of thought, as the examples of people getting injured who don’t exercise are too numerous to count.

That said, some stretches are better than others when it comes to improving athletic performance; when you stretch has an important role to play as well.  Find out more about that here.

But for our purposes today, remember that stretching is not just about keeping your limbs limber.  It’s also about keeping your heart healthy.  And stretching is a crucial part of heart health.

Sources
online.prevention.com
mayoclinic.com
latimes.com