Lots of celebrities have promoted highly aggressive stretching routines. There was Madonna's photo of her leg tucked behind her head; Jennifer Garner's Instagram posts with her Pilates instructor; even Ruth Bader Ginsberg advocated full body routines.

But here I want to talk about more passive stretching.

That's the kind of stretching you do with assistance from another person, a door frame, a towel, or stretchy band (you get the idea) while you hold the position quietly for a minute or more.

Not only does that provide effective relief from tight muscles, tendons, and ligaments, it also helps preserve blood vessel function when it’s done before vigorous exercise.   

A study presented at the American Physiological Society's annual meeting had participants put their foot in a splint to stretch their calf for five minutes, then rest for five minutes — and repeat that four times — before or after they went for a run.

The result was that the passive stretching before running helped their bodies (after the exercise) restore tissue oxygenation to pre-exercise levels; their blood vessels open up, improving blood flow.

The group who hadn't done passive stretching had a significant reduction in their body's ability to replenish muscles and other tissue with oxygen after exercise.

This showed that passive stretching can help people recover after physical exertion. 

And while we don't have irrefutable data to show that stretching keeps you able to exercise for the long term, I believe it does.