Exercise changes body’s composition, and improves our resting metabolism, however, stretching helps with weight management in several other beneficial ways. It reduces muscle tension and increases blood circulation throughout the entire body, helping to dissipate stress, promoting relaxation, yet boosting our energy levels.
Controlling stress through the practice of stretching is beneficial for weight management and weight issues. Stress causes our adrenal glands release excess cortisol (referred to as the stress hormone), which is manageable in short term, however, chronic stress leads to health risks such as weight gain, weakened immune system, hypertension and elevated blood glucose levels. The calming effects of stretching helps disrupt this cycle.
Stretching also helps with muscle function and ‘muscle remodelling’ - a concept of increased capacity for exercise through physiological, structural, and metabolic changes, and includes connective tissue strengthening, greater range of motion, and joint alignment.
