Originally Posted by
texaspandj
Sometimes when I haven't stretched and I feel tight I'll stretch. But I can't imagine going through life and feeling tight in an area and because I'd never stretch not realizing I need to stretch. Which leads me to the point that when you stretch on a regular bases you become more aware when you're pushing your muscles to a state of failure due to tightness/tears.
Bottom line, there's a reason gymnast, ballet dancers, football players, and CATS, stretch, it increases your range of motion thereby reducing their chance of injury. None of that you need to just ride a bike however stretching to improve your flexibility overall is definitely worth the time if done on a consistent almost daily basis.
Once you've experienced the benefits of improving flexibility, circulation, and range of motion in muscles, tendons, and joints, it's really tough to go back to a state of ignorance on the subject, though I'm sure it's possible.
My body naturally conforms to whatever activity I'm doing for more than a minute or two. Be that driving a car, riding a bike, sitting in front of a computer, bending over working on a bike, sitting in a recliner, posting on the internet, whatever. So I stretch to return back to a neutral position. I guess this doesn't happen to everyone, but it works for me, and there's no way I would ever go back to being stiff and contorted again. For me that would lead to almost-certain injury, like for example, the many injuries I read about here on an almost daily basis that require medical intervention.