How to Improve Flexibility
Flexibility is usually not the first thing that comes to mind when people think about fitness and conditioning. Most people equate physical health with physical strength or attractiveness. Very rarely is flexibility considered an important aspect of physical health by everyday people. As a personal trainer flexibility is considered an important aspect of health that should not be discounted and which can be measured.
Flexibility refers to your ability to move parts of your body around a joints axis. It is basically how well you can extend through a range of motion. Scientifically, what you are trying to determine is how well your muscles are able to move your bones around a joint.
There are several flexibility tests that you can do to determine how flexible you are in certain areas of your body. A common test that you can do is called the “sit and reach” test. This test simply requires you to sit with your legs out straight and your feet flat on the side. With your legs straight, lean forward and see how far you can reach toward your toes. The tighter your muscles are the more difficult it will be to stretch.
There is another very simple test that you can do standing up, with or without help. All you need to do is take off your shoes and stand with your feet together and your knees straight. Do not lock your knees. Bend forward at the waist and reach for the floor. If you can touch the floor with little to no discomfort in your rear thighs or lower back then you have good flexibility. If you find that touching your toes is just barely possible without causing you any discomfort than you should consider stretching more often. If you can't touch your toes at all or if you feel pain then you may increase your chances for lower-back problems. You should consider stretching regularly at least once a day to help loosen your muscles and improve your flexibility.
