Why is flexibility training important?

Brandon Partin - NASM CPT, VC

Introduction

Flexibility Training is one of the most important and fundamental training regimens when it comes to fitness. It is essential to correct any muscle imbalances, improper posture. enhancing overall stability and balance and so much more!

     

How do we define flexibility? What exactly is it?

Flexibility itself is defined as normal extensibility otherwise known as the capability to be elongated or stretched of the soft tissue allowing for complete range of motion or known as ROM. There can be a wide variety of factors that can influence flexibility, here are some of them as follows: Genetics, Joint Structure, Sex, Age, Body Composition, Activity Level and so on.

What happens if we have poor flexibility?

Poor flexibility can lead to something known as relative flexibility and this is where the body will seek the past of least resistance for functional movements. Relative flexibility can be seen by the outward posture of an individual. If an individual is performing a squat and they excessively rotate their feet outward then that would be an example of relative flexibility, which would lead to a more limited ROM for some individuals.

What are muscle imbalances?

Muscle imbalances are alterations in the length of muscles of muscles surrounding the joints. These imbalances can be classified as either overactive or underactive muscles. Postural distortions and repetitive movements, poor training technique can all contribute to muscle imbalances.

Overall Impact of Muscle Imbalance

Muscular Dysfunctions

Osteokinematics and Arthrokinematics are a referral to types of muscular dysfunction. Osteokinematics refers to the joint motions we can see such as flexion, extension, adduction and abduction and the various movements of the body. Arthrokinematics focus on roll, glide and slide based movements. However when performing these movements can bring awareness to altered reciprocal inhibition, which is the muscle length being too short or too long resulting in dysfunctional movements.

Rationale for Flexibility Training

There are two reasons for implementing flexibility training into your daily workout routines. They are known as pattern overload and the cumulative injury cycle. Pattern overload is constantly repeating the same movements and motions over long periods of time. Cumulative injury cycle is where tissue trauma will induce inflammation, muscle spasms and muscle imbalances. Flexibility training is a proactive approach to these two factors.