Why Humans Stretch

After running today, I had a nice stretching session.  In the midst of a stretch, it occurred to me that animals never do it.  Humans are the only species that stretch because we are so hell-bent on perfection that we are constantly over-exerting their bodies, whether for athletic ambitions or just to look good.  The struggle for physical perfection is caused by our unique vanity; winning trophies and looking attractive has inspired so many people to stress their bodies that it's a wonder why we never pause and ask ourselves why animals are so humble that they don't even bother. 

A better reason though, is that we humans also consume an excessive amount of food, which means we have more energy to expend.  Other species usually find food to be scarce, so they are forced to spend more time conserving energy than us.  Being at the top of the food chain has given us this privilege, though it also means that stretching helped get us there.  Humans are famed for being one of the most durable species in the animal kingdom, and stretching has a lot to do with that.  Stretching helps our muscles recover from exercise faster, and helps prevent injury.  It probably began when humans figured out that they could run a lot farther to scavenge food if they stretched their muscles more.  On the other hand, animals probably never had the mental ability to figure out how stretching could help them, so their endurance has always been poor compared to ours. 

This could mean that despite our lazy reputation for seeking comfort in the modern age- and therefore being less active than in the past- humans are actually the most efficient species ergonomically.  Stretching means that our endurance is second to none, and may even have helped us evolve into what we are today.  Evolutionary biologists have said that endurance was one of the key elements that transformed us from cavemen into superior hunter-gatherers.  Funny then how most of us would rather sit on the couch watching television than go on a nice, long run.  The implication is that that Industrial Revolution, which caused all the conveniences of modern living, has caused us to begin devolving into ergonomically useless animals, like every other.  We would be wise to stop this trend, before it gets out of control.