How many times should you stretch a day as an athlete?
Francesco Palmieri
2025-08-10 13:24:02
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Liguori said the ACSM guidelines focus on maintaining flexibility.
They encourage people to stretch at least two or three times per week but emphasize that daily stretching is preferable.
Any movement is better than none at all.
Most people don't exercise aggressively, so their risk of muscle injury is minimal.
However, never stretching – whether you exercise or not – can lead to decreased range of motion over time, especially if a person is sedentary or doesn't engage in a variety of physical activities.
The ACSM guidelines suggest most adults hold a stretch for 10 to 30 seconds and that older adults hold the stretch for up to a full minute for greater flexibility.
It really comes down to personal preference, Gabriel said.
If the purpose is to increase range of motion, it's better to move the body slowly within the range for that joint, as opposed to popping up and down.
Even people who have been sedentary for a long time and may have lost range of motion can gain at least some of it back through proper stretching.
They encourage people to stretch at least two or three times per week but emphasize that daily stretching is preferable.
Your body can bounce back, it may take a while, but day by day, you will see an improvement.
Sasha Testa
2025-08-10 11:31:27
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It's most important to focus on the body areas needed for critical for mobility: your lower extremities: your calves, your hamstrings, your hip flexors in the pelvis and quadriceps in the front of the thigh. Aim for a program of daily stretches, or at least three or four times per week. Ideally, it should be daily. You'll need to do it over time and remain committed to the process. It may have taken you many months to get tight muscles, so you're not going to be perfectly flexible after only a few sessions. It takes weeks to months to get flexible, and you'll have to continue working on it to maintain it.
Silvana Caputo
2025-08-10 10:18:39
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If you are looking to improve your flexibility, it doesn’t matter how often you stretch each week. What is important is that you aim for up to ten minutes per week for each muscle that you stretch. You could stretch each muscle for a little more than one minute a day, or five minutes twice a week. The amount of time you should spend stretching will ultimately depend on how many muscles you need to stretch. If you are less flexible, you will likely need to dedicate more time, given you’ll have more “tight” muscles to stretch compared to someone more flexible.
It doesn’t matter what muscle you stretch, how old you are, your sex, or whether you are a couch potato or an elite athlete – everyone can improve their flexibility.
Static stretching can be done anywhere and at any time. You can stretch while watching your favourite TV show, when in the office, or after walking the dog to help you relax. It’s a great way to start and end your day.
Asia Ferretti
2025-08-10 08:59:16
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Healthy adults should do flexibility exercises for all major muscle-tendon groups—neck, shoulders, chest, trunk, lower back, hips, legs, and ankles—at least two to three times a week.
For optimal results, you should spend a total of 60 seconds on each stretching exercise.
So, if you can hold a particular stretch for 15 seconds, repeating it three more times would be ideal.
If you can hold the stretch for 20 seconds, two more repetitions would do the trick.
A regular stretching routine is a simple yet powerful addition to your daily self-care.