Did you know that there is a difference between being fit and being flexible? Just because you are able to do fifty push-ups, it doesn’t mean that you have great mobility. This is often why so many people feel stiff and tight. Improving your flexibility will greatly help you with your mobility and it will decrease your chances of having a muscle pull stiff. Now you should also know that flexibility doesn’t mean that you can do the splits or bend over backward. Instead, it means that you are better able to do everyday tasks. Did you know that many people actually struggle to pick up things from the floor?

Getty Images/DigitalVision/ Kathrin Ziegler

The first and the best thing you can do to improve your flexibility would be to stretch. To be more specific, you should be stretching daily. There are a number of different stretches that actually won’t take up too much of your time. Many stretches can actually be done almost anywhere and at any time. When stretching you really want to focus on the areas where you experience the most tightness. Now you should know that, in the beginning, there will be some resistance. By this, we mean that your muscles may not want to do the full stretch just yet.

This shouldn’t discourage you. Instead, this should be motivated to continue. You see, even though it will be hard in the beginning, with consistency it will become better. This means that with time, you will notice that you are able to do the stretches much better. Now you will need some help from time to time. This can be the help of a partner or the help of a few tools. One of the best stretching tools out there would be a foam roller. Although they are compact, foam rollers have a number of different uses.