Flex your Muscles for Lifelong Vigor

Flexibility is related to mobility — better-known and less neglected, perhaps — but also tends to fall by the wayside with the emphasis on cardio and strength training. (See related story on page 26).

It’s sometimes used interchangeably or confused with mobility, but flexibility training focuses on stretching muscles passively, or lengthening them to their full capacity through intentional movement.

Mobility is defined as the range of motion joints have independent of stretching, during any type of physical activity.

Having flexible muscles is critical for being able to bend, twist and maintain our balance around unexpected bumps and obstacles in our path. It works to your advantage during everyday movements like reaching, stooping, putting your socks on and getting in and out of a vehicle.

For athletic performance, flexibility allows us to jump higher, run faster and do just about anything better than we otherwise would, with lower injury risk. It’s important, however, to equally stretch both sides of your body to avoid having to depend too much on a dominant muscle, which is one way you can get hurt.

Your flexibility depends on many factors, beginning with such inherited traits as bone structure and on through aging, which is equally as inevitable. But it’s something you can constantly work to improve even — and especially — if you are suffering from painful conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lower back pain.

In most cases stretching until you feel tension in your muscles, but not pain, will be beneficial. Hold each static stretch, which extends the muscle as far as it will go, for 10 to 30 seconds.

When and how you work on your flexibility are equally important. Static stretching was once the most-recommended option for warming up before a workout, but many experts now emphasize the need to warm your muscles up before doing this.

Dynamic stretches such as arm circles, squats and “high knees” marching, which take joints through their full range of motion, can be done as part of a light cardio warmup prior to static stretching or any other kind of workout.

Below are examples of each type of stretching:

DYNAMIC STRETCHES

*Arm swings — Stand in a neutral position before bringing your arms up as to hug your chest. Then let the arms go and let momentum create a swinging motion. Repeat until your upper body begins to feel loose and warm. *Hip circles — Stand on one leg, using a wall or chair for support if needed, and raise the outer leg, making a circular motion with it until it returns to where it started. Repeat 10 to 20 times per leg.

STATIC STRETCHES

*Corner pec stretch — Stand in the corner of a room where two walls meet, placing one hand on each wall. Bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the corner until you feel your chest stretch, but are not in pain. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds and repeat up to five times.

*Quad stretch — Stand on one leg and stretch the other by pulling the heel up to your bottom, then hold for 10 to 30 seconds.

Repeat on other leg.