7 Surprising Benefits of Flexibility for Your Health

Regular physical activity is important for overall metabolic health. Whether your goal is to build muscle, improve cardiovascular health, or lose weight, there are many ways to get moving.

Activities like weight training, hiking, tennis, or cycling may come to mind when you think of exercise. But there are many ways to move your body that don't even require leaving your house.

One of those activities is flexibility training. There are many ways to improve your flexibility and joint range, which have various health benefits. And even just the benefits on your daily living, making tasks like bending, reaching, and lifting easier, are enough of a reason enough to make it a part of your routine.

Read on to learn what flexibility training is and how it can improve different areas of your health.

What is Flexibility Training?

Flexibility training is an exercise that increases the range of motion of a certain group of muscles, connective tissues, soft tissues, and joints. It isn't necessarily a standalone exercise; it can be incorporated into various types of workouts.

It’s considered a low-intensity exercise. If you've ever done yoga or pilates, you may have already experienced this overall major muscle or focused stretching.

This type of physical fitness training takes stretching further by encouraging you to focus on the mind-muscle connection and perform specific movements that can have various benefits, including improving your range of movement.

Other activities, such as warm-ups and cool-downs before or after a workout, can improve flexibility through stretching. However, these types of stretches may be more beneficial in reducing the risk of injury or soreness after intense exercise (also known as delayed-onset muscle soreness or DOMS).

Types of Stretching

Several different types of stretching can help improve flexibility. The main categories are active or static stretching, passive stretching, dynamic stretching, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching.

Static Stretching

Static stretching involves holding a muscle stretched for a period of time (10 to 30 seconds) and is one of the most common forms of stretching used by sports medicine to retrain muscles and maximize freedom of movement. 

Some common static stretches include the hamstring and glute stretch, hip flexor stretch, or calf stretch. Upper body stretches can include the shoulder stretch and tricep stretch.

Dynamic Flexibility Stretching

Dynamic flexibility stretches are movement-based and use a full range of motion to release stiffness without holding the stretch before a workout or activity. Dynamic stretches include lunging with a twist and high kicks.

These are often used as a warm-up in sports such as running. In fact, some research has demonstrated an improvement in endurance among runners who incorporate dynamic stretching into their routines.

Passive Stretching

Passive stretches usually require some sort of equipment, such as a band or rope, to intensify them. These are typically held longer to fully release the muscle.

Passive stretches, such as the lying knee-to-chest stretch or child's pose, can help increase flexibility. They're also linked to improved range of motion and reduced muscle soreness after sitting for long periods of time. These stretches aid in correcting posture and alleviating lower back strain caused by everyday life tasks.

They also double-duty as part of strength exercises when resistance bands are used. While these stretches may appear similar to dynamic stretches, they're typically done for a longer period of time and without the movement.

PNF Stretching

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, or PNF stretching, increases your range of motion by stretching and contracting the stretched muscle. This type of stretch is usually held for three to ten seconds and can also be beneficial after a workout.

The partner quad and calf stretch are examples of common PNF stretches. In addition to dynamic stretching routines, these techniques have proven beneficial in sports like running, enhancing performance by boosting muscular strength and range of motion.

Ballistic Stretching

Ballistic stretching involves using momentum to stretch your muscles beyond their normal range. It's generally not recommended for stretching beginners as it can cause injury. Overall, studies have shown that ballistic stretching can improve muscle range of motion.

It can also increase blood circulation and give a short burst of energy, which can help with performances that require sudden bursts of movement.

The Health Benefits of Being Flexible

Here are seven benefits that increased flexibility and regular stretching can have on your health.

1) Increases Physical Activity

Like cardio or weight training, flexibility training is a type of exercise. Even though it is a low-impact workout, it still contributes to daily physical activity. Being more active with everyday activities can contribute to more calories burned, helping with overall weight loss. Exercise can also have acute effects on your mental health and boost your mood.

Because it requires focus on the mind-muscle connection, it can feel meditative, increase mindfulness, and even reduce stress and anxiety. You can even incorporate this training into other workouts, such as resistance training, yoga, or as a post-workout to cool down.

2) Reduces Chance of Muscle Imbalance

Low flexibility can be an important factor in muscle imbalances, which occur when one (or a group of) muscles is weaker than others. In a study conducted on elite fencing athletes, for example, a training plan with active and passive stretching exercises was found to improve lower limb imbalances.

Certain movements in fencing and other sports require some degree of lower body flexibility. A training plan that incorporates focused stretching may be one way to improve your range of motion in tighter areas.

Other research suggests that stretching (when done with enough tension) can even elicit muscle hypertrophy (aka increasing muscle size/mass) in some individuals, though more research is needed to confirm this link.

If you notice imbalances in a specific area, you may want to try some of the stretching exercises we mentioned earlier to loosen up that muscle group.

3) Can Help Regulate Blood Sugar Levels

Exercise has long been observed to help improve metabolic health and support healthier glucose levels, and using a CGM for fitness can be a helpful tool to gauge this. What you might be surprised to know, however, is that stretching for 20 minutes a day may also help regulate glucose responses in some individuals.

A small study in people with type 2 diabetes found that daily passive stretching led to lower blood glucose levels. Though the study was small, it showed promising results for helping control postprandial blood sugar spikes in this group.

More research may be needed to determine if regular stretching can support normal blood sugar levels in groups without diabetes.

4) Can Improve Back Pain

Certain static stretches have been found to improve lower back pain in some individuals. One study found that regular stretching using a load on the tensor fascia lata muscle was linked to improved low-back pain symptoms.

Another small study found that increasing an individual's range of motion through lumbar flexibility exercises may reduce back pain. However, more research may be needed to confirm this treatment's effectiveness over time.

While these studies have limitations due to their size, their results indicate that regular static stretching may be beneficial for pain reduction. If you experience back pain, you may want to consider implementing a stretching routine.

5) Supports Healthy Posture and Balance

Flexibility training and stretching may also help improve poor posture. A study conducted on older, inactive individuals found that participating in a training program improved posture and quality of movement in those who were studied.

In another study, students with poor posture and musculoskeletal pain were found to have improved pain symptoms after following an exercise program that included stretching and flexibility exercises. These subjects also saw improvements in their posture.

Some research has also shown that regularly practicing yoga can be beneficial, leading to better overall balance. In older individuals, improved flexibility and greater range of motion can also result in better balance and less risk of falling.

If you struggle with poor balance and posture, working with a personal trainer or physical therapist to create an individualized stretching and flexibility training plan may be helpful.

6) Can Help with Soreness and Tight Muscles

Tight muscles can create discomfort, cause pain and may also lead to soreness. Luckily, the benefits of flexibility training can be seen in every muscle group.

While research on stretching and improved soreness is sometimes debated, some studies have shown small but statistically significant evidence indicating that it may help reduce soreness. Often, people add foam rolling or use a lacrosse ball to work through tight areas. If you experience muscle soreness, incorporating a little stretch into your daily routine may be helpful.

7) Can Improve Athletic Performance

Researchers sometimes debate the link between increased athletic performance and stretching. However, stretching (as well as improving balance through specific exercises) has been found to lead to better performance for activities such as yoga and pilates.

Stretching regularly may also be beneficial for injury prevention. One study even found that flexibility and range of motion could help predict which sprinters are at higher risk for sustaining hamstring injuries.

As discussed earlier, research has also shown that including dynamic stretches in a warm-up routine can improve running economy (measuring oxygen consumption in the body to measure endurance performance) in endurance runners. It's important to note, however, that pre-workout static stretching may hinder the performance of activities such as weight lifting by temporarily reducing muscle strength.

An Expert Tip

Sports nutritionist Amanda Donahue, MS, RD, CD, explains, “An ideal scenario to prepare for exercise may look like doing a brief warmup before you begin your exercise session, which mainly consists of more aerobic exercises and range of motion movements (think jumping jacks, arm circles, brisk walk/jogging in place). Then, when your muscles are already warmed up post-exercise, it would be a better time to incorporate stretching during your cool down.

This practice can help to keep muscles healthy/flexible, support the range of motion for proper joint health, and reduce injury from over-stretching. This is because your muscle fibers have already been worked and have more adequate blood flow, which makes them more elastic/malleable and less likely to be injured. Finally, don't forget to breathe throughout your stretching so a continuous oxygen supply reaches your muscles!"

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