Kenneth Gardner

Regular exercise increases your physical capacity so that you are better able to meet the challenges of daily life with energy and vigour. Improving your flexibility is extremely important as it contributes to general fitness and wellness.

Flexibility is a highly adaptable component of physical fitness as it increases in response to a regular programme of stretching exercises and decreases with inactivity. The smooth and easy performance of everyday and recreational activities is impossible if flexibility is poor. Good flexibility helps to keep your joints and muscles moving without pain so that you can do all the things you enjoy.

Good flexibility provides benefits for the entire musculoskeletal system; it may also prevent injuries and soreness and improve performance in all physical activities. Good flexibility contributes greatly to good joint health. If the muscles, tendons and ligaments that support a joint are tight, the joint will be subjected to abnormal stress that will cause joint deterioration.

For example, tight thighs muscles will cause excessive pressure on the kneecap, leading to pain in the knee joint. Poor joint flexibility can also cause abnormalities in joint lubrication, deterioration of the cartilage cells lining the joint, pain, and further joint injury. Part of being flexible is being able to move without pain or hindrance. Individuals who practise a sedentary lifestyle effectively lose their mobility at an early age. Even relatively young persons are often challenged by back, shoulder, knee and ankle pains. Improved flexibility can greatly improve your quality of life, particularly as you get older. Ageing tends to decrease the natural elasticity of muscles, tendons and joints, resulting in stiffness. The problem is further compounded if you have arthritis.

Flexibility exercise improves the elasticity in your tissues, making it easier to move your body. When you're flexible, everything from tying your shoes to lifting objects becomes easier.

Have a nice stretch but make sure to keep the back straight and the arms pointing straight up slightly behind the head. - photo by Daviot Kelly