Monday Wellness Reflection- Stretching

The topic of stretching is one that I have found to be underrated, or at least not very well researched or understood by my peers. It has also interested me since I run and dance and have always wondered what could help improve me and whether stretching was actually beneficial. So when I was researching stretching, I focused my search on what it does before and after exercise or a sport. However what I found most interesting was not the effects of stretching but rather how the muscular, skeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems worked together to make our bodies contract and move. As I was looking more into that aspect of stretching, there was a tremendous amount of detail that went into it- muscles are composed of motor units which are then made up of muscle neurons and cells which are then divided into sarcomeres, which are then made up of different proteins! Overall though, stretching is found to have many health benefits and there are several studies that have studying its benefits in athletes or sedentary people over long periods of time. The main benefit of stretching is for increased flexibility and mobility for whatever sport or activity that will be done but it is also used for better posture and blood circulation which is helpful to sedentary people as well. On a scale of 1-10, I would grade myself 9 because I think we could have made our activity more interactive since the video went too fast for the entire class.