Why Stretching is Extremely Important for Student Health
Unsplash – Photo by Dane Wetton / https://au.ryderwear.com/
When you are thinking about harmful activities, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Is it alcohol consumption? Hard physical labor? Maybe you have thought of greasy fast food? Well, one of the most harmful things for your health is sitting. We are talking about constant sitting, 8 hours per day sitting, usually accompanied by incorrect posture. It might seem like nothing, but our ways of life and everyday routine impact our bodies in a rather tremendous manner. And students are among those affected the most by this ordeal. They cannot avoid sitting around for hours during lectures, and after them while completing their home assignments. So, what is the remedy, if it is almost impossible to bypass? The answer is simple – stretching. In this article, we will disclose some issues connected with the lack of movement and also list some benefits of stretching, while giving some tips on how to improve your posture without any hassle.
First of all, let’s see how long periods of sitting can undermine the student’s health.
– It can increase the chances of heart disease and problems with blood pressure. Because the circulation of blood in your body gets worse when you are sitting, especially in bad positions, it can greatly impact your blood vessels.
– It strains your back and neck. No matter how comfortable you might feel, being in the same positions for too long puts additional pressure on your spine, which is not good news.
– It increases the odds of diabetes and weight gain.
– It also somewhat cancels your exercising efforts. While you might be active and go to the gym quite often, sitting for long periods negates many of the positive effects of occasional exercising.
– It can lead to anxiety and more stress.
Unsplash – Photo by Sam Balye
Now let’s see how daily stretches can actually help, even if you are forced to spend most of your time tied to a chair.
– Flexibility and strength. Our muscles support our whole body and their strength determines how enduring and strong we can be. While we have mentioned that the spine is one of the main victims of sitting, by implementing flexibility training into your daily routine you strengthen your back and allow for better support and fewer pains. It is essential to take breaks while you are sitting, so do some classic stretches at least once each hour.
– Prevention of injuries. When your muscles are warmed up and trained – any movement you do becomes easier and smoother. It decreases the overall chances of injuries and traumas.
– Calmness and energy. Exercising and stretching help level up your endorphins amount, which is a well-known hormone of happiness. It positively influences our brain and fights stress. Stretching also serves as a type of meditation, a break from any activity that occupies you, and provides time for a recharge. For instance, if you have a long essay to write, try placing short sessions of stretching in between your writing rants, that will be useful for your back as writing requires spending a lot of time sitting and will help you concentrate better afterwards. Another option is to get the best university assignment help if you need help with the fast-approaching deadline.
So now we know why we stretch – to benefit our body and mind. Let’s see some techniques of stretching that might be of assistance.
- Start with a small warm up workout; do not jump right into stretching. Have a short walk or slow run, warm up your neck by turning your head slowly to the left and the right with each breath.
- Concentrate on the back muscles and any places that feel tense. These particular areas need your attention due to the lack of circulation and blood supply. As soon as stretching increases the blood flow and warms these areas up – tension should be gone as well as soreness.
Unsplash – Photo by Kari Shea
- Do not push yourself too much. Unless you are a professional gymnast, do not stretch until you feel pain. It should be a gradual process without any harmful experiences. Your body knows its limits and pain is a sign that the limit has been reached. Make sure you feel comfortable and aim towards a gradual upgrade in challenge.
- It is better to stretch regularly than to have one or a few long sessions. Try to add in a few stretches each hour that you are sitting. If you can work up to 10+ minutes of stretching every hour of sitting, you will become a stretching master!
By implementing these easy routines in your life, not only will your back muscles be extremely happy, your head will be grateful too. Stretching your spine and neck ensures fewer headaches and more productivity, better focus, and reduced stress levels. What more can you ask before an exam or an important test? Well, an answer sheet of course. Unfortunately, that is the one thing stretching cannot provide.
This blog post was written primarily by Susan Wallace.
Susan Wallace is a leading expert in physiotherapy (physical therapy) and yoga techniques. She has been developing her own exercising techniques for years and helps people implement it into their busy schedules. The main priority of her blog is to show people that exercising can be an easy and fun activity that does not take a lot of time.
