Welcome back to Get Fit Guy. I'm your host, Dr. Jonathan Sue. Every week, I'll share science-backed tips to help you get fit, stay fit, and optimize performance.

It's well known that stretching can help improve the flexibility of your muscles and the range

of motion of your joints.

Better flexibility and range of motion enables your body to work effectively, which is important

for enhancing physical performance and decreasing the risk of injuries.

What you might not know is that stretching can also

improve non-muscular structures such as the blood vessels that circulate blood through your body.

In this episode, we'll explore this little-known benefit of stretching. I'll also provide you

with a simple lower body stretching routine that you can start using right

away. You may already know that your vascular system is made up of tube-like vessels that carry

blood through your body. Arteries carry blood away from your heart to the rest of your body,

while veins carry blood back to your heart.

But as we get older, arteries begin to lose elasticity and become stiff.

Age-related arterial stiffening is, at least in part, due to the gradual loss of stretchy

elastin fibers and the accumulation of stiffer collagen fibers in the

arterial walls. Increased arterial stiffness is a problem because it's closely associated with

high blood pressure and often precedes cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart attack,

and heart failure. But there's good news. A review published earlier this

year analyzed studies from over the last decade and concluded that stretching significantly reduces

arterial stiffness. Passive or static stretching, where you move your body to your limit or

place of tension and stay in that

position for up to a minute, is the main type of stretching performed in these studies.

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