Steps to create the habit of daily stretching (5)

Did you know that stretching daily can help improve your overall quality of life? In this post, you’ll discover 5 steps to create the healthy habit of daily stretching.

If you’re wondering why you don’t have more energy or why your hips, hamstrings, and back always feel tight after working at your desk for hours. It’s because you’re probably not stretching enough during the day.

Why is it important to follow these steps to create the habit of daily stretching?

Stretching should be an important part of your daily routine. It can help relieve tension, prevent injury, and speed recovery. It also improves posture by strengthening your back and shoulder muscles, making it easier to stand. Something as simple as stretching is not only good for increasing muscle strength, but also for flexibility.

Regular stretching helps improve flexibility which is vital to your overall health. By simply stretching your body for a few minutes every day, you can keep your muscles flexible, strong, and healthy. Most importantly, stretching is one of the few activities that make you feel good right away.

The benefits of stretching can help improve your health and exercise, but the benefits go further—it can help improve your overall quality of life. That’s why in this post you will find 5 simple steps to creating a healthy habit of daily stretching.

The benefits of stretching can help improve your health and exercise, but the benefits go further—it can help improve your overall quality of life.

What are the steps to create the habit of stretching daily?

As with most things in life, the more you do something, the easier it becomes. Sure, it may not seem like it at first, but with consistent stretching, you’ll soon find that it’s getting easier to do every day. But how do you go from being a sedentary person who doesn’t stretch to a daily stretching habit? Follow these steps to create the habit of stretching daily:

1. Define

2. Anticipate

3. Take action

4. Reflect

5. Adjust

5 steps to create the healthy habit of stretching daily:

1. Define:

Before adding something new into your routine you must define HOW and WHY you want to do it.

The following questions will help you understand that:

A. What do you WANT from your stretching routine?

Define what your goals are and what benefits you think you can get by including stretching in your routine. Some people want to be more flexible or have better mobility, while others want to relieve pain in their muscles and joints. So think about what are the reasons why you want to create the habit of stretching daily.

B. What would be the BEST TIME to stretch?

To answer this question you have to review your current routine and identify when you have a free space to include your stretching routine. Use your old habits to support your new habit. You can make stretching a habit by doing it right after brushing your teeth or before bed.

C. How much time are you going to DEDICATE to this habit?

With so much going on in your day, finding the time can be a challenge, so keeping sessions short will help you start and maintain your habit easily. When you’re starting out it’s important not to plan a long stretching routine, but start with 10 to 15 minutes every day. Over time, and once you start to see benefits, you’ll want to increase this time.

Now that you know why you want to start stretching, and when and for how long you’ll do it, it’s time to get everything ready to start.

2. Anticipate:

What you want to do is anticipate your stretching session the same way you anticipate things like going to school or the office. You have to identify, plan and modify what is necessary to be successful when starting your new habit.

The following questions will help you with this process:

A. Do you have all the supplies you NEED?

Make sure you have an easily accessible room to perform your stretching routine. It can be a corner in your bedroom or somewhere in your house that you go to constantly. Make sure you have all the tools that you think can help you have a better practice (yoga mat or blocks).

B. Did you LOCK your calendar and set a reminder?

At first, it will be hard for you to remember to do your stretch since it is not something you usually do. Scheduling your session on your phone’s calendar is the easiest way to make sure you’ll remember to start your routine. It is important that you start at the same time every day so you can build the habit.

C. What can make your stretching routine more FUN or relax?

The stretch should feel natural and easy to do. If you feel like you have to force yourself to stretch, you won’t do it as often. An easy thing to do is to play your favorite music during the stretching routine and start with relaxing stretches instead of something more advanced. Remember that this is a time to dedicate to yourself and you must prepare yourself in the best way to be successful.

3. Take action:

In the first two steps, you planned and prepared what you need for your stretching session, now is the time to do it. Until now, you did everything possible to make this happen. You prepared yourself and your environment by defining the “WHY”, “WHEN” and “HOW” of your stretching routines. Since you did all this work before, you have enough mental strength to start your habit.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

A. Don’t ignore the alarm

The moment your phone rings reminding you to stretch, get up and go to the place where you will do your routine. Start at the same time every day and don’t use more than the time you set for this purpose.

B. Stay PRESENT

One of the benefits of stretching is that it helps release your mind and body from tension. But you won’t get any of these benefits if you’re thinking or worrying about other things during your stretch. Try to keep your attention on the movements you are doing throughout the session.

C. Focus on ONE routine

To create the healthy habit of stretching every day you should start with just one routine that includes your whole body. If you do a totally different routine every day it will be very difficult for you to see the progress.

4. Reflect:

When you create a habit, you have to be aware of the immediate rewards (the effects that occur during or just after doing it). These effects are different for each person, for this reason, it is important that from the beginning you define what you are looking to achieve with stretching. That way you can perform and adjust your stretches based on those effects and use them as motivation.

To be able to identify the real effects you are getting there are two things you can do:

A. Be aware of how you feel AT THE MOMENT of stretching:

It is important that you are present during your session so that you are more aware of the effects that it is generating in your body. The most common effect is relaxation. However, this will depend on the type of stretch you have chosen for yourself.

B. Be aware of how you feel AFTER your stretching session:

After each session, think for 5 minutes about how you feel after the stretching session. Describe the feelings in detail. Identify if you feel relaxed, happy, or with more energy. When you’re aware of the immediate rewards, you’re more likely to stick with your new habit. Oftentimes, the effects can take a few hours to appear or can also last for a long time. So pay attention to how you feel and what changes you see in your mood during the rest of the day or night. 

5. Adjust:

This is the last of the 5 steps to creating the healthy habit of daily stretching. After a few days into your new habit, take a few minutes to think about your progress. Review what is helping you and what is making it difficult for you to stick to the habit of stretching every day.

A. Identify how CONSISTENT you have been in the last week

Many people use habit tracking to find out how consistent they are with their habits. If it suits your needs, it is something you can also do. This is a very simple one that you can use for this purpose.

B. Identify the CHALLENGES you are facing

If you have skipped a few days, think about the causes. It was because you didn’t feel like doing it or because a situation/person got in your way. By knowing the challenges you are facing, you will be able to solve them more easily. Many times the solution is simply to do another routine that is more entertaining or change the place where you stretch.

C. Identify what you can do to IMPROVE

The first few days are always a test to see how this new habit works in your routine. Over time, you may begin to see different ways to make this new habit even easier. When you feel more comfortable with your stretches you can do more demanding routines, increase the time or acquire more equipment to make a more complete routine.

What are the right stretches for you?

In step 1 of the 5 steps to creating the healthy habit of daily stretching, you saw the importance of choosing your routine beforehand. The type of stretching you choose will depend on your health status, your goals, and your preferences. However, it is important to know that when stretching you must include all muscle groups:

• Upper Body: Neck, Shoulders, Upper Back, Chest, Arms, Core, and Hands.
• Lower body: lower back, hips, legs and ankles, and feet.

You can find a simple stretching routine that you can do at bedtime or early in the morning.

What is the best time of day to stretch?

As long as you do it correctly and listen to your body, the practice will be beneficial to your health at any time of the day. For many people, stretching before bed is the perfect time to work those muscles after a long day. One of the main benefits of night stretching is that it improves the quality of sleep.

You have to think about your day-to-day and decide what would be the best time to add your stretching routine.

Conclusion

You’ve just learned how to create a stretching routine that feels natural and easy to do. Remember the 5 steps to create a healthy habit of daily stretching are:

1. Define

2. Anticipate

3. Take action

4. Reflect

5. Adjust

Each step is important and you should not ignore any of them. I know it seems like a lot of work at first, but once you get into the habit it won’t require your help to keep going.

The most important thing is that you enjoy what you do and commit to doing it for at least 50 days. That is the minimum time that you need to adhere to the new habit.

Follow these 5 steps and you’ll be well on your way to creating a healthy habit of daily stretching.

What time would you like to stretch each day? Let me know in the comments.