The Benefits of Flexibility Training
There’s a lot of talk about the importance of being emotionally flexible, but not enough talk about the benefits of being physically flexible — but hey, that’s why I’m here!
Not that long ago, a friend of mine asked me: Would you rather be strong or flexible? While this question caught me off guard, I ultimately went with flexible.
Why? Simple.
You don’t have to be flexible to be strong. However, I’ve come to realize that if you are flexible, you are strong. In other words, strength and flexibility go hand in hand.
WHAT IS FLEXIBILITY?
According to UC Davis Sports Medicine, flexibility “is the ability of a joint or series of joints to move through an unrestricted, pain-free range of motion.”
The key word in this definition is “pain-free.”
While this might not be a huge deal during the “younger” years, some people as they age, they start feeling more and more pain when they move. According to UC Davis, the main factors that contribute to the loss of normal joint flexibility include injury, inactivity or a lack of stretching. So pretty much, two out of three reasons suggest that we lose our normal ability to move because of our lack of movement. Crazy, right?
BENEFITS OF FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Decreases the risk of injury
Improves posture
Improves sports performance
Decreases pain (especially back pain and joint pain)
Improves overall mobility and decreases tightness
Improves muscles blood flow
Improves coordination
Most of all, flexibility training requires patience. Especially if you’re in an older age bracket, flexibility is not something that will happen overnight. Flexibility requires patience and a lot of stretching.
Furthermore, if you are one of those people that thinks it’s “too late” to begin doing flexibility exercises, you are completely wrong. It is NEVER too late to gain flexibility. Yes, the older you get, the harder it might seem to accomplish certain goals, but that doesn’t make them impossible. And believe me, once you being stretching, your body will thank you. You WILL feel a difference.
Regaining flexibility in your 70s or even 80s, also means that you are likely going to have better oxygenation and overall better circulation. So it’s actually good for your brain and life expectancy!
If you are at a point where it’s hard to lift yourself off the floor or can’t do it at all, your body is trying to tell you something.
Fortunately, you are still on time to reverse this. You can regain flexibility and full mobility, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t!
Don’t know where to start? Watch this 10-minute full body stretch video that I made just for you! You’ll notice how you will get better every day!