The definition of flexibility is:
The ability to bend easily or without breaking
Working on from mobility last week, we know that to increase or mobility, we must have an equal amount of flexibility.
Being flexible or increasing our flexibility offers many benefits within our daily lives:
Improved mobility, having covered this last week, we can keep it short. Increased mobility helps with all daily tasks, up and down from the sofa, stairs, in and out of the car, in the garden, fitness activities and many more.
Improved posture, having just pulled my shoulders back, sitting at a desk or using our phones have created some less than optimal working positions. Increasing our flexibility helps us to maintain correct posture for longer, reducing fatigue from creeping into less favourable positions.
Muscle co-ordination, specifically we are looking at power output, now it’s easy to think of power output as an athletic endeavour, however we should consider it from a purely functional standpoint, if we increase power output, each task will require less overall energy to complete making the task easier to perform.
Reduces the risk of injury, over stretching or over use are synonymous with injuries, increasing our flexibility give us a greater working range and more room for manoeuvre when undertaking activities. Hip flexibility is a good case in point here, walking, running, skiing etc all require lots of input and movement from the hips, the less movement we have the greater the risk of strains and pulls within them.
Reduced muscle soreness, after reading the above its stands to reason that by increasing the range of movement of our muscles, we will be able to accept more movement before our muscles tire and the associated load effect will reduce.
As we age, our flexibility decreases, in turn reducing our mobility, which has an effect on our muscle mass. Working on our flexibility helps to slow that cycle, allowing us to remain active and enjoying life.
Maybe stretching should be more than just lip service at the end of a workout…..
Interested in how to build flexibility training into your workout? Be sure to ask a member of Team SF – info@spikefitness.co.uk