We tend to neglect our bodies. Sometimes, it is more comfortable after a long day to go to bed without any extra self-care, assuming since we are going to sleep, we are going to recover. Yes, we are always going to recover after a good night’s sleep, but the muscles you have used during the day need something more than that.
Though what I’m going to share with you may be subjective, you can still expect to wake up feeling better than ever if you do it.
As a therapist, I’ve always wanted to educate people on how important it is to stretch and particularly to develop a stretch routine. We all have a specific area or areas that get tight. And most of the time is our job that creates repetitive stress and posture problems.
The key is to stretch before bed, and if you have a stressful job, you must do it every night or at least after most stressful workdays.
When you have a stressful day, your body produces extra adrenalin and cortisol.
Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure, and boosts energy supplies so you can cope with the busy day. We know we don’t just have one random working day nowadays. We are all busy doing a lot more than we should. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, can increase anxiety, lower energy, and interfere with your body’s ability to heal, leading to sore muscles and fatigue mostly experienced in the morning when you wake up.
Of course, if you are working too much, you need to pay attention to your work and rest routine. I’ve noticed that stretching before bed can help with the overall muscle recovery and fatigue in the morning. No, you don’t have to stretch for one hour a night that would be super boring if you are not a pro. All you need to do is find stretches that target your tight muscles and repeat them every night for 2 to 5 minutes. If your whole body aches, you can do it more, but the goal should be to combine the pleasant with useful.