Do you forget to stretch your muscles after workouts? I hear you. Stretching isn’t the most fun part of working out, but building flexibility is important, if not more, as building strength and cardiorespiratory strength.

Stretching is any movement that lengthens your muscles. Tight muscles reduce muscle strength and joint range of motion. Tight muscles can also cause strain on the neighboring joints during normal daily function, and they increase the risk of injury. Losing muscle elasticity can lead to asymmetry in our bodies and postural issues. If improper posture or performing functional activities are a problem, stretching the tight muscles regularly can help.

The good news is that you can gain muscle flexibility and elasticity by scheduling brief stretching breaks during the day or after your workout. The ACSM recommends stretching each major muscle group at least twice a week for 60 seconds per exercise. It’s important to make stretching part of our daily routine.

Stretching regularly has many health benefits. Here are the top five benefits from my list.

Improve posture- Tight muscles can cause poor posture. Sitting in front of the computer or other electronic devices all day with hunched shoulders leads to rounded shoulders and shoulder pain. Sitting all day also leads to tight hip flexors and weak glute muscles, which cause many lower body postural issues like anterior pelvic tilt. Stretching muscles regularly can prevent these postural anomalies. Most yoga classes focus on trying major muscle groups. Taking a couple of yoga classes each week is an excellent way to incorporate stretching.

Range of Motion- Flexibility is the range of motion of a joint or group of joints. With age, our joints lose flexibility. Stretching regularly can help us reduce this loss in flexibility. Stretching can help increase your range of motion—both temporarily and in the long term.

Relieve Back Pain- Back pain is one of the most common medical problems, affecting 8 out of 10 people at some point during their lives.  Most back problems are posture-related. Poor upper body posture leads to lower back compensation. Same with the tightness in hips and quads, it leads to back pain. Stretching most commonly used muscles like chest, shoulders, hip flexors, and calves can prevent back pain.

Prevent Injury- Stretching a muscle within its range of motion can help increase the range in which a muscle can move. Dynamic stretches before a workout helps prevent injuries by bringing blood flow to the muscles, warming them up, and decreasing any tightness. Pre-workout dynamic stretches are a way of moving slow and intentionally before going fast in the workout. Thus, dynamic stretching helps prime your muscles for the workout.

Improves Daily Movement- Stretching can relieve muscle soreness from a workout and pain and discomfort associated with it. Increasing the muscle elasticity doesn’t just provide pain relief; it can also make everyday tasks easier and more efficient. Every movement involves flexibility like squatting into a chair, reaching for a milk carton in the fridge, leaning over to get in your car, and hinging to pick up your toddler. By boosting your flexibility with stretching, these tasks will be much easier with a smooth range of motion.

Stretching is one component of fitness we all find easy to skip. But with all these benefits adding it to your routine will be a good investment of your time.