Flexibility Increases Lifespan. Here's How to Improve It

Recent long-term study They found that greater flexibility was associated with longer life expectancy, even when controlling for age and health. Scandinavian Journal of Sports Medicine and Science This week, researchers used the FlexiTest, which assesses flexibility in seven joints and 20 body movements, to test the flexibility of more than 3,000 men and women aged 46 to 65 and tracked their mortality rates 13 years later.

Flexibility was associated with longer life for both men and women, but flexibility had an even greater impact on women than men: women with the lowest scores and the least flexible were five times more likely to die prematurely than women with the highest scores, while men with the lowest scores were twice as likely to die prematurely.

“Our findings support the importance of flexibility as an essential component of health-related physical fitness,” the authors conclude. The findings highlight that this association may be extreme: greater flexibility may be associated with a reduced risk of premature death.

Why does flexibility contribute to a healthy life?

Flexibility – the ability of a joint to move freely without pain – begins to decline in early childhood and declines in middle age as joint stiffness becomes more noticeable, said Claudio Gil S. Araújo, research director at Clinimex in Brazil and lead author of the study. luck.

“Flexibility is about autonomy,” Araujo says. She wants to raise awareness that flexibility isn't just for top-level gymnasts, but is an essential part of living a healthy older age. In its most practical application, flexibility helps older adults maintain agility and mobility by allowing them to move more freely, pick up objects from the ground, or tie their shoelaces.

Beyond Because it is practical, Reduce the risk of injuryFlexibility increases blood flow throughout the body and helps muscles recover after exercise. Flexibility is an important component to overall health, yet prioritizing it during exercise sessions is often an afterthought.

“When we think of exercise, most people participate in aerobic exercise to improve their cardiovascular endurance. Most people do weight training to maintain muscle mass and build strength,” says exercise physiologist Chris Travers. Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Previously in Cleveland, Ohio luck“These are very important components of a fitness program, but the third component is flexibility and mobility, and this is the one that is most often neglected.”

How flexible will I be?

To prioritize flexibility as an indicator of health, try the study's Flexitest, which assesses range of motion in the knees, shoulders, hips, knees, torso, ankles, and wrists.

Araujo says luck The FlexiTest goes beyond the “sit and reach test” of the 1950s, which it says is “a very limited test of the true nature of physical flexibility.”

“One great advantage of assessing range of motion across all 20 movements is that we can add up all 20 scores to get a Flexindex, a measure of physical flexibility, and then compare the final score to norms for gender and age,” says Araújo.

The test is Demo Video The test, offered by Araujo's clinic, takes less than three minutes to complete.

Each movement is given a score between 0 and 4, giving an overall score out of 80. For the average middle-aged person, a score of 2 for each movement is most common, a score of 4 is primarily for gymnasts and dance performers, and a score of 3 is considered above average. The average score for women in the study was 41.1, while men scored 30.5. A score of 0 or 1 indicates that some effort needs to be made to improve flexibility.

It's important to warm up your joints, not tolerate pain, and get a partner to help you if the movement is appropriate. Start by doing the three-step test, as outlined in Araujo's book.Flexitest: An innovative flexibility evaluation methodology.”

Test your wrist flexibility by seeing how easily you can extend your wrist back: perpendicular to the ground is a score of 2, and over 90 degrees is a score of 3.

Drawing by Susana Queiroga. Courtesy of Claudio Gil Araújo (Flexitest: an innovative method for evaluating flexibility)

To test your knee flexibility, lie face down and, with the help of a partner, see how far you can bend your knee towards your body. If you can comfortably pull your knee inward about 45 degrees, you'll get a score of 2.

Drawing by Susana Queiroga. Courtesy of Claudio Gil Araújo (Flexitest: an innovative method for evaluating flexibility)

To test your ankle flexibility, lie on the ground and bend your ankle towards your body. If you can bend it more than 90 degrees, you get a score of 2 or 3.

Drawing by Susana Queiroga. Courtesy of Claudio Gil Araújo (Flexitest: an innovative method for evaluating flexibility)

How can you increase your flexibility?

Whatever you do, regular exercise will help improve your mobility and flexibility, but it's important to pay particular attention to bending your joints, such as pointing your toes, stretching your wrists and ankles, and stretching your hip flexors.

So make it a priority to walk away from your desk and stretch every day. Araujo says you can improve your flexibility wherever you are, at home or at work, by stretching and flexing your ankles in your free time, part of the FlexiTest.

“Some people are naturally flexible, but whether you can touch your toes or your hands can only reach halfway up your shins, you need to work on your flexibility and mobility, because the longer you sit, the more your muscles shorten and as a result, you become stiff,” Travers previously told CNN. luck.

Incorporate 30 Minutes of Flexibility Training Doing it three times a week will further improve your flexibility. Exercise programs that promote flexibility training include yoga, tai chi, pilates, and barre.

“Flexibility is a variable that can be trained, and with training you can improve it and potentially change the survival curve,” Araujo says.

For more information on healthy aging: