Flexibility is important for everyone, not just athletes. It can reduce pain, increase mobility, and prevent injury. Flexibility is individual, but it involves expanding the structures between joints. Good habits that promote flexibility can lead to a lifetime of movement, while neglecting it can lead to rigidity and limited mobility.
The benefits of flexibility are so extensive that it is almost unreasonable how often stretching and flexibility are ignored. Some people actually believe that flexibility is only necessary for elite athletes or aspiring gymnasts. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as those who need flexibility the most are ordinary citizens. Flexibility can help reduce pain, increase mobility, and prevent future injury.
Flexibility is sometimes hard to define because it can mean so many things. What may be low flexibility for one person could be extremely high flexibility for another. The degree of flexibility, or what makes a person flexible, is therefore a very individual and specific property. That being said, the broad definition of flexibility is the ability to increase the distance between the joints.
To increase the distance between the joints, the structures between them must be expanded. Fortunately, the ligaments, tendons, and muscles that fill this void are elastic elements capable of expansion. The benefits of flexibility allow for easy expansion between these structures. This can be useful since all movement is a dynamic process. To move, joints, bones, muscles, and other structures must move first, and one of the benefits of flexibility is making these actions happen with less stress and strain on the body.
The importance of flexibility can best be illustrated with real life examples. One is a geriatric patient hoping to walk after ankle surgery; the other is an Olympic gymnast. The Olympic gymnast is doing all the right things, warming up, stretching and dynamically using all of her muscle groups to aid flexibility. This individual maintains good habits throughout life and is rarely injured or in pain due to limited flexibility.
Unfortunately, the geriatric patient has never been educated on the benefits of flexibility and has lived a life of limited movement, rarely stretching. This person’s joints and associated structures have grown rigid over the years, turning the gums of nature to stone. After surgery, rather than engage in physical therapy designed to restore some elasticity, he or she prefers to sit in a chair.
Unfortunately, this patient will never recover and will be lucky to walk again. Even more unfortunate is the fact that this example is often true in real life. The benefits of flexibility go far beyond performance at an elite athletic level, and almost everyone can benefit from good habits that promote flexibility. It is important to take steps to reflect that the gymnast is enjoying a lifetime of locomotor longevity rather than daydreaming about walking while sitting stiffly in a chair.
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