STRRRREEEEETCH out those muscles!!! As much as we all work and have hectic lives, one thing most of us share is sore bodies. There's many reasons for our pain. If you have a desk job, then you are sitting all day. Your muscles kinda get stiff from not moving for 8 hrs. Even if you have a job where you are moving around, once you get home and sit down, it doesn't take long for the stiffness to move in.

A great way to keep this from happening, or alleviate some of the stiffness is to stretch. This is especially true when you lift weights. I find that stretching before and directly after exercising dramatically decreases the stiffness and pain the next day. Even if you don't lift, stretching helps keep you limbered up. It also helps with blood circulation. Stretching can help to fix bad posture as well. This is a big one. Most of us have become accustomed to having bad posture, it's just kinda the way we tend to evolve. Believe it or not, you have to make an effort to have good posture. I try to always keep my abs tight and shoulders back as much as possible.

A big cause of the dreaded lower back pain is tight hip flexors. A really good way to fix this is to do warrior lunges. Google the term if you are unfamiliar. It can also be caused by tight hamstrings. There are many different stretches you can do to get them loosened up. There are of course other causes of low back pain that CAN'T be solved by stretching, so if you find that stretching isn't working for you, it's probably time to see a Dr. Yet another possible back pain helper is spinal decompression either by traction or inversion. I personally use inversion boots for this, and it helps a little, but definitely isn't a magic cure all.

Upper body stretches are just as important as lower. Again, there are many different stretches and variations out there. The best advice I can give is try a bunch, and see what works best for you. Whatever you decide to do, KEEP MOVING. It's much harder to hit a moving target then a sitting target. The old saying "use it or lose it" rings true for many things in life. Stretching only takes a few minutes out of your day. Heck, you could probably even do it while your morning coffee is brewing, and if it helps ya feel better, why wouldn't ya?