Right when you wake up in the morning, your body involuntarily engages in stretching and yawning, a process called pandiculation. The instinct takes over your body, and suddenly you feel like you have to stretch.
The involuntary behavior is not isolated to humans only because your pets get this compelling instinct to stretch in the morning, and there is a reason.
Sleeping for a long time gets your muscles and joints stiff. When you wake up in the morning, you roll over, yawn, and often stretch your arms beyond your head; a feeling that makes you quite refreshed.
However, the questions that have remained unanswered for a long are, why does stretching in the morning come so instinctively? Where does the feel-good factor after stretching come from?
Read on to explore expert insight into why do you stretch in the morning right after you wake up.
Why Do You Stretch in the Morning?
You stretch in the morning because of an involuntary instinct called pandiculation. Sleeping accumulates muscle tension and joint stiffness.
This compelling, yet refreshing instinct, however, takes over when you wake up and you suddenly feel like you have to stretch.
First, stretching stimulates your nervous system to enhance alertness or focus for the day ahead.
Secondly, it eliminates muscle tension accumulated during sleep, realigns and restores muscle activity, and reduces morning stiffness.
Stretching and Post-Sleep Muscle Alignment
After taking a long, restful sleep, you wake up with tight muscles and stiff joints. This happens so because sleeping is quite a passive ability that reduces blood flow, heart rate, and overall body activity.
However, mornings will come and you will need to wake up; this is where your body has to transition from a state of relatively low to high-intensity activity. Tense muscles and tight joints, though, will make the transition difficult, and this is where stretching comes in.
For the most part, it is a subconscious instinctual signal that compels the body to flex its muscles, make getting out of bed easier, and help you perform your everyday tasks with relative ease.
Why Morning Stretching Feels Nice
Why does stretching in the morning feel so good? Is there a point to this feel-good factor? Well, stretching, in general, feels good because it stimulates the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, and subsequently enhances blood circulation to the muscles.
The resulting wakefulness, coupled with the release of endorphins (happy hormone) reduces pain, stress, and boosts your mood. Most people also ask what would happen to the body if they don’t stretch in the morning or at all.
A body with already stiff joints and tight muscles will become more susceptible to pain and injury. Without stretching, muscles become cold and increase in tightness. Over time, the muscles will unevenly pull on your joints, causing pain and discomfort.
Moreover, tight muscles are known to be weak, and you may not be able to perform regular tasks. Cold tendons and ligaments will also increase the likelihood of straining, muscle damage, and rupture.
Instinctual Theories as To Why You Stretch After Waking Up
Muscle Alignment
Pandiculation is an involuntary brain activity that involves simultaneous stretching and yawning. Another involuntary activity, according to experts, is muscle alignment.
When you sleep, your brain stays awake, but your muscles become inert most of the time. One possible reason you need full-body stretching in the morning is to wake up, loosen up, and realign your tight muscles.
Also, since it is morning and you need to get going, the subsequent increase in blood flow and heart rate makes you move faster than the hours you were asleep.
Restoring Muscle Activity
When you sleep through the night, the relative rate of body activity slows down. Sleeping is often accompanied by a slowdown in heart rate, blood flow, and muscle activity. That, coupled with the idea that you are maintaining a single position all night means your muscles and joints will tighten and stiffen up, respectively.
Therefore, humans, as is the case with other vertebrates, stretch instinctively to restore blood circulation and normal heart rate as a way of waking up the muscles and restoring normal range of movement in the joints.
Essentially, stretching in the morning jump-starts the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)- the branch of the central nervous system that regulates involuntary body functions such as digestion and heart rate.
That way, all involuntary processes that have been otherwise slowed down while sleeping is drastically increased. The action increases blood flow to the muscles, and your subsequent ability to perform tasks.
The human body is a biological entity that functions optimally with 100% homeostatic potential, and stretching is one of its paths to this feel-good factor.
When you stretch, your body will progressively reduce muscle tension, stress, pain, and anxiety, which are all factors that enhance your overall homeostatic drive.
Why You Should Stretch in The Morning
Beyond the much-needed flexibility, balance, and range of motion that stretching offers, doing it in the morning goes a long way in nudging your day in the right direction.
Stretching helps you to enhance the following aspects:
Muscle Flexibility
Sleeping is quite a passive activity that results in muscle tightness and joint stiffness. This is often caused by maintaining one position for long periods. When you wake up, stretching comes in handy to relieve back pains and overall stiffness, generating a feel-good factor.
Improved Cardiovascular Health
Doing morning stretches, including static and dynamic stretching, as well as those incorporated into disciplines like Yoga, can reduce blood pressure and heart rate. By doing so, your level of stress and muscular tension is reduced too.
Stretching can also boost blood flow and circulation, which is essential in transporting oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to body tissues.
Reduced Stress and Anxiety
Tight muscles and stiff joints that accompany sleeping time are big culprits when it comes to muscle tension, fatigue, and stress. Doing stretching exercises in the morning can reduce mental tension and anxiety.
Final Thoughts On Why Do You Stretch in the Morning
Stretching in the morning is the body’s way to realign and restore muscle activity following a long period of inactivity. The effect of sleeping is slowed blood circulation, heart rate, and general muscle activity.
However, in the morning when you have to get going, involuntary stretching is activated by the parasympathetic nervous system that works to restore normal body function and its homeostatic drive.
This wakes up the muscles, increases heart rate, blood circulation, and helps the body transition from a point of low to high activity. The effect is you can get going and perform tasks with relative ease.
Having explained about why do you stretch in the morning, it is important to note that this alone is not enough to maintain flexibility. You still need a proper morning stretching routine to reap all the benefits of the healthy movement.
