When we watch a Cirque du Soleil acrobat rest her legs on her shoulders or a yogi place his feet behind his head, we marvel at their flexibility. These seeming super-humans possess joints and muscles with a wide range of motion. Some folks are born with this talent; others become more agile with practice. Flexibility also is relative. Perhaps your hips are flexible but your shoulders are not. And perhaps your flexible hips allow you to do a forward split but not one with your legs out to the side.
Types
Flexibility can be dynamic or static. Dynamic flexibility refers to how the body moves kinetically. Static flexibility relates to extending and maintaining a position, either actively or passively. Active flexibility uses your muscles and requires strength, while passive flexibility adds the support of your weight, a partner or a prop such as a block, a strap or a ballet bar.
Influences
How flexible you are depends on a number of factors, including age (flexibility diminishes as you get older, mostly due to less activity), gender (females have an advantage), temperature (the warmer, the better) and the time of day (mid-afternoon is peak flex-time). Drinking water also helps increase mobility.
Benefits
Being flexible gives your body more freedom of movement and helps reduce the risk of injury. A well-rounded workout builds endurance, strength, flexibility and balance.
Strengthen and Stretch
A regular stretching routine builds flexibility as it calms the mind, enhances posture and rids tension. Stretch after strength-building exercises to lengthen muscles and reduce tightness, release the buildup of lactic acid and other waste products and avoid damaging connective tissues. Less bulk and more agility creates a healthy balance of flexibility and strength.
Balance
Strength and flexibility unite the best of both worlds. Too much flexibility and not enough strength may invite injuries because an overstretched muscle is less stable. Strength with little flexibility, on the other hand, makes you too rigid and also susceptible to injury.
Football players can improve their performances by limbering their bodies, and ballerinas can benefit from strengthening with light weights in rapid repetition before their practice.
Considerations
According to the American Council on Exercise, you should stretch 30 minutes a day, three times a week. Following are some tips to help you stretch more effectively.
Warm up muscles before stretching. Breathe fully as you hold each position. Avoid bouncing, straining or pushing into a stretch. Follow all endurance activity with a few minutes of stretching.
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