Stretching isn't just for athletes. According to ACE - the American Council on Exercise - it can improve flexibility, reduce injury and improve your quality of life, whether or not you work out.

"We spend our lives in a sort of hunched-over position. Think of someone sitting at a computer terminal," said exercise physiologist Fabio Comana. "I think just the opportunity to kind of stretch out some of those muscles that are sitting in that kind of contracted or shortened position can do wonders for just the overall pain and discomfort they live with."

The problem is many people find stretching uncomfortable or they can't find the time. So San Diego State University researchers tried to see if stretching exercises could be made easier.

"We wanted to find out if, if you could hold a stretch for a less amount of time, maybe people would be more willing to stretch. And if you didn't have to stretch every single day, maybe people would be more willing to use exercise, or stretching as an exercise," said Associate Professor Daniel Cipriani from San Diego State.

Cipriani assigned study participants different stretching programs and then kept track of their flexibility by measuring their range of motion. They found that three 10-second stretches are as effective as the more widely recommended 30-second stretch.

"When you're doing a true stretch which is uncomfortable, 30 seconds can seem like an eternity. Ten seconds is much more tolerable," said Cipriani.

Researchers also found that stretching three times a week can be as beneficial as stretching every day.

"It didn't seem to matter how often you stretched; you were still going to gain as long as you stretched at least three times a week," said Cipriani.

Now you could say asking people to improve their flexibility isn't so much of a stretch. ACE experts say stretching can improve posture and increase mental and physical relaxation. It can also release muscle tension and soreness.