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People of all ages are discovering the benefits of exercising the muscles we often ignore. As summer draws on, the heat and humidity are not the only things to take their toll on our health. Air conditioning, while a godsend for those who can't stand the heat, can wreak havoc on the body, causing back and shoulder ache.

The good news is that reaching for the air conditioner's ``off'' switch is not the only solution: The aches and pains can be alleviated by stretching every day.

The Asahi Culture Center Yokohama near JR Yokohama Station offers stretching classes, attended once a week by 19 people who range in age from 41 to 90.

``Breathe in through your nose, now breathe out through your nose,'' says instructor Sanae Sasaki. ``Stretch your muscles slowly and stop if you start feeling pain.''

The participants followed Sasaki's instructions and slowly stretched their necks, shoulders, backs and eventually, the rest of their bodies.

``Your lower body seems a bit tense. You could eventually get backache,'' Sasaki warned me when I went along to the class for the first time. At 35, I was the youngest participant, but my body was determined to tell a different story.

Sasaki puts class members through their paces for an hour, with about 30 types of stretches and dumbbell exercises. Afterward, they feel refreshed and pleasantly fatigued, and the iced tea served at the end of the session tastes heavenly.

An 67-year-old resident of Kanagawa Prefecture who has been taking the class for more than 10 years, said: ``I can now bend down and touch the floor with my hands flat and my legs straight. I don't get aches in my back and shoulders these days.''

The exercises involve stretching muscles and tendons and holding the stretches for 10 to 30 seconds. Because this makes the joints more flexible, it not only helps maintain good health, but also prevents shoulder and back pain.

``Stretching can boost circulation and metabolism and help alleviate physical and psychological fatigue. It is incorporated into many rehabilitation programs and exercise programs for the elderly,'' said Yu Imachi, assistant professor at the Research Center for Sports Science at Kyoto University.

Another type of stretching that is gaining popularity is facial stretches, which are used as a beauty routine. The face has more than 30 muscles, and increasing blood flow to them may help reduce dull skin and promote a good complexion. The stretches used are based on rehabilitation exercises for patients with facial paralysis.

Studio How, an image consultancy based in Tokyo's Minato Ward, offers one such facial stretching class. Participants are guided through 28 exercises, including one that involves scrunching up the nose and eyes.

``In everyday life, we use only 20 to 30 percent of our facial muscles,'' said Kazuko Tateishi, an instructor with the consultancy. ``By training your facial muscles the right way, you can make your smile much more expressive.''

Muscles grow by being stretched, according to Tokyo University professor Yoriko Atomi. A laboratory rat lifted to keep its hind legs off the ground and its calf muscles contracted will lose half the density of those muscles, and the length of its calves will shrink by 20 to 30 percent, she said.

``If you don't stretch your muscles, the cells connecting the bones will die,'' she said. ``That's why, when you break your arm and it's kept in a cast for a while, the inner-arm muscles shrink. The positive effects of stretching have been proved on the cell level.''

The day after I took the stretching class, my thighs and hips ached all over. But keeping to the strict stretching regimen shown below and stretching for about 20 minutes every day after taking a bath seemed to pay off. When I returned to the class a week later, the instructor's praise was like music to my ears. ``You've become much more flexible, haven't you?'' she said.

But then came the words I didn't want to hear: ``If you carry on stretching three times a week, you should be able to stretch your muscles 2 to 3 centimeters more.'' It seems she won't be satisfied until I can bend down and put my hands flat on the floor.

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