4 What is Flexibility and How to improve it?

In this video we talk about flexibility, why it is important and how to become more flexible

When we say something is flexible we refer to its property of bending easily without breaking. So the more an object can bend without breaking, more flexible it is. The flexibility of a human being similarly is defined as the safe range of motion in the joints before the body of an individual gets prone to injury. In simple terms it is the ability of your muscles to stretch in order to induce full movement range in your joints.

Why is Flexibility important and why should we care about it
The biggest benefit of flexibility in everyday life is it improves our balance and posture. With flexibility we become more capable of performing our daily tasks and are less likely to suffer from injury and pain.

Moreover, while exercising, flexibility allows us to perform exercises over a full range of motion thus making them more effective. As an example to get full benefit of squats, our thighs need to go below parallel, however if we lack flexibility, we will not be able to go below parallel and therefore will not be able to reap full benefits of squats.

In terms of athletic performance, improved range of motion allows athletes to perform complex sport specific actions without injury and hence provides significant boost in the their overall performance.
Improving flexibility

Unlike strength or aerobic capacity, flexibility takes consistent effort over many months, even years, before we notice clear improvements. Improving flexibility hence is a process of patience. To make matters worse, flexibility is a genetic trait that is inherited; so each person’s level of flexibility is not completely in their hands. Both these factors make flexibility training very frustrating. The key with flexibility training therefore is patience and consistency. Even if you don’t see instant gains, keep at it and you will eventually make gains. Even if you don’t become as flexible as a gymnast, whatever gains you make, will always help you in staying fit for the long term.

So what can you do to become flexible? Like all physiological adaptations, flexibility also requires some stimulus for improvement. Stretching your muscles will improve your flexibility. We recommend always adding in a 10 minute stretching routine at the end of your regular workout. Muscles are still warm and there is a good amount of blood flowing in and out. Stretching therefore no only helps to improve flexibility but also relaxes muscles and helps with circulation post-workout. You should be able to stretch all major muscles of the body using just 10 stretches.

Yoga is a great way to improve flexibility and strength at the same time. Yoga will also help you with core control, balance and coordination. Hold your stretches for atleast 30 seconds for best results.

We will do separate videos later to describe how to stretch different muscles of your body.

Flexibility and managing pain

If you are experiencing a chronic pain, which came in slowly, then most often lack of flexibility is the culprit. Improving flexibility can correct such pain. Many times though, it is difficult to really understand what is the origin of the pain. The body functions as a unit. This unit is connected by a network of connective tissue that has a tendency to rely on the entire network of muscles. Tightness at one location can cause the pain at a different location.

For example, if you have a tight hip flexor, they will pull on the pelvis and then your lower back. This will put stress on your lower back making it painful. We will think we need to stretch out back, when in fact it is the hip flexors that need to be stretched. Moreover since flexibility takes time to develop, stretching just a few times will not alleviate the pain. You can imagine the confusion this causes. Best approach in our opinion is to stretch all the muscles regularly.


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