Flexibility varies enormously from person to person, however a lack of flexibility can seriously affect your posture and strength. Stretching is something that is often overlooked and we tend only to be concerned about our flexibility when we have issues such as stiff joints or when muscle shorten and become more susceptible to injury.
If we don’t stretch regularly (especially after exercise) then muscles have a tendancy to lose their flexibility. This means that when they are needed to perform an extreme movement, the muscle is less able to extend to the joints full range of movement and can lead to muscle tissue damage or tears.
Sports such as football (soccer) can be responsible for reduced flexibility in certain muscles. Footballers for example have notoriously tight hamstrings. This is known as adaptive shortening and this can also happen due to incorrect posture or due to immobilisations due to injury.
Benefits of Stretching and increased flexibility:
- Increased range of movement
- Reduction in muscle tension and increases in physical and mental relaxation
- Reduction in Lower back and spinal problems
- Decrease in muscle soreness after exercise (DOMS)
- Reduction in risk of sprain and muscle tears
- Better posture
- Improvements in coordination due to creating greater ease of movement
