Does Stretching Make You More Flexible & Is It the Key to Better Mobility?

Flexibility is a key component of physical health and performance that can impact anyone, regardless of age, activity level, or background. A good example is an athlete, like a runner or soccer player, who relies on flexibility to enhance their performance, reduce the risk of injury, and recover faster from physical activity. Stretching is one of the most widely used techniques to improve flexibility and mobility, but does flexibility exercises really make you more flexible? This blog will explore the relationship between stretching and flexibility to help you incorporate the right stretching routine into your training for improved performance and recovery.

As you’ll learn, there’s more to flexibility than just stretching. Pliability’s mobility app can help you better understand how stretching improves flexibility so you can develop a personalized routine to achieve your goals, whether to recover from an injury, improve your athletic performance, or simply move better daily.

What Determines How Flexible You Are?

Flexibility is an intrinsic property of body tissues that determines the range of motion achievable without injury at a joint or group of joints. That's according to a definition developed by kinesiologists at Dalhousie University and presented at the 13th International Conference on Biomechanics in Sports. They note that, beyond muscles and connective tissue, one key factor determining flexibility is how a person's skeletal structures fit together.‍

"Individual differences in your innate flexibility can be quite large, with genetics playing a big effect," said Stephen Dunn, a physical therapist and co-founder of Core Therapy and Pilates in Austin Westlake Hills, Texas. "Your flexibility is influenced by a variety of genetically inherited traits, including the structure of your joints, the length of your muscle fibers, and the suppleness of your connective tissues," Dunn explains.

How Aging Affects Flexibility and Connective Tissues

We naturally lose some flexibility with age, said Dunn. "This decrease is brought on by alterations in the tendons and ligaments that make up connective tissues, which lose their elasticity as we age," he explained. Tendons connect the bones of a joint to the muscles that manipulate it, while ligaments surround and support that joint, limiting how it can move. Dunn said.

‍"Collagen formation declines with age, and the existing collagen stiffens [s] and becomes brittle."

Age, Gender, and Conditions That Affect Flexibility

Dunn added that other age-related joint changes can impact flexibility, "such as cartilage wear and tear and sarcopenia or age-related muscle loss. " This is why young people are generally more flexible than older adults.

Other factors, including sex, also affect flexibility. The female sex hormone estrogen increases the amount of collagen in connective tissue, which generally makes females' tendons and ligaments more elastic and flexible than males', according to a 2019 study in the journal Revista Paulista de Pediatria. Hypermobility disorders, which typically have a genetic cause and alter the connective tissues, also affect flexibility because people with the conditions show an excessive range of motion in their joints.

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Does Stretching Make You More Flexible? Why?

Many people think stretching is essential to improving flexibility. Runners stretch their hamstrings before hitting the pavement, gymnasts do hyper-splits during warm-ups, and yogis wind down their practice with some forward bends. But does stretching prevent tight hamstrings and stiff shoulders? And if so, how?

Stretching & Flexibility: What the Research Says

Scientists don't fully understand what happens during a stretch. "Yoga will make you more flexible, but we don't know how," said Jules Mitchell, a yoga instructor and master's degree candidate in exercise science at California State University, Long Beach. Experts agree that stretching doesn't permanently lengthen muscles.

Instead, exercises such as reaching for your toes train the nervous system to tolerate more excellent muscle extension without firing off pain signals. Traditional, passive stretches may not be the best way to accomplish that task.

What Happens Physically When You Stretch? 

Markus Tilp, a sports scientist and biomechanist at the University of Graz in Austria, says that muscle fibers and tendons (which attach the muscles to the bones) elongate during a stretch. Making a habit of stretching will not sustain the lengthening of the muscles or fibers. Muscle tissue attaches at fixed points in the bone, so the entire muscle complex can't get permanently longer.

And if one likens muscle tissue to a rubber band, it would not be a good thing for the muscle to get permanently stretched out, as that would mean a decrease in its elasticity, said Mitchell, who wrote her master's thesis on the science of stretch.

Stretching and Muscle Flexibility: What Studies Show

When animals are placed in casts that keep their muscles extended for a long time, their bodies add additional sarcomeres or the essential subunits of muscle fibers. Their muscles return to their original shape after removing the animal from those constraints.

And in those studies, it's unclear whether the lengthened muscles improved the animal's flexibility. In a June 2014 study in the journal Clinical Biomechanics, Tilp, and colleague Andreas Konrad found no differences in people's muscles and tendons after six weeks of a static stretching regimen.

So, If Muscle Fiber Doesn't Get Longer As A Result Of Stretching, Why Does Stretching Seem To Increase People's Flexibility? 

The nervous system is the master conductor determining how far a person can stretch, said Brooke Thomas, a yoga instructor who discussed the science of stretching in a blog post on Breakingmuscle.com.

Nerve endings are dispersed throughout the muscle and tendon, and if a stretch doesn't feel safe for the muscle, those nerves will fire, registering pain and resistance, Thomas told Live Science. These nerves "will say 'you better stop stretching, because if you stretch further, the muscle will maybe get damaged,'" Tilp told Live Science. 

Yoga and Stretch Tolerance: How Repeated Poses Improve Flexibility

There's no doubt that Yoga practitioners who do triangle poses or splits for years will gradually be able to deepen their stretch. But that's because those repeated poses are retraining the nervous system to be quiet at more profound levels of stretch, a process known as stretch tolerance, Tilp said. "You're not feeling this pain anymore, and that makes it possible for you to get into a deeper position with an even more flexed joint," TIlp said.

Increasing Flexibility: What You Should Know

Modern people spend all day sitting, so their nervous systems and muscles become habituated to a limited range of motion. "The body adapts to the movements you most frequently make," Mitchell said. "The corollary to that is that the body adapts to the movements you don't make: It adapts by not making those movements anymore."

Mitchell said that people who want more forgiving hamstrings or hip joints must stand up, sit, squat, walk, and change positions throughout the day. Mitchell also said that passive stretches may not be the most effective way to increase flexibility. Although several studies have found that passive-training regimens do modestly increase flexibility, Tilp noted it may be more effective to perform something called proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), where people extend their muscles and then try to contract them from a lengthened position.

PNF Stretching vs Static Stretching: Boosting Flexibility

A study that will be published in the December 2014 issue of the Journal of Sports Medicine and Fitness found that gymnasts could increase their flexibility more after PNF stretching than after static stretches. People aiming to improve their flexibility in their hamstrings may do forward bends and contract their hamstrings at the same time as they are stretching.

Alternatively, Mitchell said people can try lying on their backs, stretching their hamstrings with a yoga belt, and tightening them while pulling their legs toward their faces. This works because it loads the muscle with more force at a greater level of extension, which then tells the nervous system that the muscle can be strong and safe at that extension level.

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What Happens to Your Body When You Stretch Everyday?

Stretching can:

• Increase flexibility
• Help prevent injuries
• Improve posture
• Elongate muscles

Not only does it create physical transformations, but stretching can also benefit your mental capabilities, such as:

• Relaxing your mind
• Centering your breathing
• Allowing for a more peaceful sleep
  

According to Ronny Garcia, CPT, a certified personal trainer with Blink Fitness, stretching does not have to be boring. You can try out various variations of stretching and incorporate what works for you into your routine. These variations include both static and dynamic stretching.

Dynamic vs Static Stretching: Key Differences Explained

“The difference [between these two] is that dynamic stretching is a movement-based type of stretching," he says. "It uses the muscles themselves to bring about a stretch. An example of this would be a walking lunge in which you are extending the range of motion to get a better stretch for the hip flexors and calves.”

Static stretching is your basic stretching type, such as holding a pose for several seconds and not moving. People in a typical yoga class or after a cardio session perform this type of stretching.

Benefits of Stretching Everyday

Incorporating a stretching routine, even in as little as 10 minutes per day, can offer powerful health benefits. These include mitigating chronic pain, improving range of motion, and reducing joint stiffness. Here are some potential benefits you might experience when stretching daily.

Increases Flexibility and Reduces Muscle Output

Stretching can improve joint stiffness and reduce the risk of muscle imbalances, which can contribute to chronic pain. In a recent study, researchers asked participants to perform stretching exercises using a goniometer (measuring tool) and workout equipment. Then, they compared their results with those of a control group.

Researchers found a significant increase in flexibility in the stretching group versus the control group. This means that stretching can boost flexibility and make general movement easier.

Counteracts Inactivity

If you are an employee who stays late at the office or maintains a schedule that makes exercising challenging, a simple 10 minutes of stretching every day can make a beneficial difference. In a study on stretching, researchers asked participants with reduced physical activity to stretch for 10 minutes daily. They found that this short time was sufficient to counteract inactivity-related performance declines in those young and healthy.

To do this, you can stretch right when you get out of bed in the morning. A 10-minute stretching routine performing yoga moves can increase your blood flow and create a positive morning mindset.

Improves Chronic Pain

Stretching can improve the quality of life among those with moderate-to-severe neck or shoulder pain. During a randomized control trial of almost 100 office workers, researchers asked them to perform a regular stretching program for four weeks. The employees reported decreased neck and shoulder pain, improved neck function, and improved quality of life.

Positively Impacts Muscle Strength and Power

Do you lack time for weight training? Stretching could be an alternative. In a meta-analysis, researchers reviewed studies on the effects of static stretching exercises on muscle strength and power. Results showed that static stretching can potentially improve muscle strength and control regardless of:

• Age
• Gender
• Physical activity status

Risks and Considerations

Even though stretching offers physical and mental benefits, you must be cognizant that it comes with its own inherent risks. Here are a few considerations to help keep you as injury-free as possible.

It's Challenging to Remain Committed

Researchers at Harvard Health say that stretching daily will not perfect your pliability—stretching is not a magic tool for immediate flexibility. Instead, you need to keep practicing it. You developed tight joints over time; stretching them out takes time.

It May Result in Injury

When you hold a stretch, do not bounce, as this could lead to injury. Instead, stretch until you feel tension but not pain. If you do notice any pain, stop stretching immediately. If the pain does not go away, speak with a healthcare provider.

For anyone with chronic pain or disabilities, scheduling a consultation with a healthcare provider can be valuable. Together, you can discuss what types of stretches and amounts of physical activity would work best for your body.

You Need to Know Your Limits

A systematic review in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine states that excessive stretching can have consequences, including nerve stiffness and deformation. Start with easy stretches, such as a 10-minute active stretching routine, to mitigate such nerve issues. Over time, you can build tolerance, and your nerves will adapt to the stretching.

Tailoring the Goal to Stretch Everyday

If you are new to stretching, you want to keep your goals within reach. In addition, for anyone with reservations, consider consulting with a fitness professional to develop an effective routine tailored to your body.

You also should follow stretching best practices that help you stay consistent and injury-free. This includes the following:

• Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes with active stretching to get the blood flowing and prepare your muscles for static, deep stretching.
• Stop if you feel pain.
• Target different muscle groups to get a good overall body stretch.
• Take slow, deep breaths. (Breathing out as you stretch can help you bend deeper.)
• Avoid comparing yourself to others. You are on your journey, and everyone is different.
• Some people are naturally flexible or have developed flexibility throughout their lives.

Strategies for Incorporating Stretching Into Your Day

Adding stretching to your daily routine can benefit you in immeasurable ways. For instance, the improved flexibility of consistent stretching can help release you from chronic pain. Here are some tips from fitness professionals on incorporating stretching into your daily routine.

Track Your Progress

Josh Weight, a sports physiotherapist and director of Gravity Physio, says that having a tangible way to view progress helps with motivation. He recommends setting up a way to measure your hamstring length, such as a sit and reach box that you check weekly to see your improvement.

Pair With Activities You Enjoy

If remembering to stretch each day is a challenge, Weight suggests pairing stretching with activities you do every day. For example, when you brush your teeth, you could do some leg stretches, or while you wait for your morning coffee to brew, you could do a quick stretching routine in the kitchen.

Incorporate Stretch Breaks Into Your Schedule

Do you work from home? Weight says you should try setting alarms or putting reminders on your email calendar throughout the day to take short stretch breaks. “Even a couple of minutes every hour can make a significant difference."

Use the Stairs

Not only does taking the stairs burn extra calories, but Lauren Wellinger, NASM CPT, a certified personal trainer, says you can also stretch the stairs. Next time you take the stairs, take an extra moment to stretch your calves. Step back to the edge of a step until the heels of your feet are off the step. Push down on the heel of one foot and hold for 30 seconds. Then, switch feet.

Use Visual Cues

If you are forgetful, Weight suggests placing sticky notes or visual cues around your workspace or home as a reminder to stretch. A note on your mirror for brushing your teeth may be a reminder.

Wind Down Before Bed

Jeremiah Shaw, CPT, a certified personal trainer and CEO of Running Wilder, recommends a nighttime stretching routine. “A gentle stretching routine before bed can help prepare your body for sleep by reducing muscle tension and promoting relaxation.”

Improve Your Flexibility with Our Mobility App Today | Get 7 Days for Free on Any Platform

Pliability offers a fresh take on yoga tailored for performance-oriented individuals and athletes. Our app features a vast library of high-quality videos designed to:

• Improve flexibility
• Aid recovery
• Reduce pain
• Enhance range of motion

Pliability provides daily-updated custom mobility programs for those interested in optimizing their health and fitness. It also includes a unique body-scanning feature to pinpoint mobility issues. 

If you're feeling limited by pain or have difficulty moving, Pliability aims to complement your fitness routine and help you move better. Sign up today for 7 days absolutely for free, on iPhone, iPad, Android, or on our website to improve flexibility, aid recovery, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion with our mobility app.

Related Reading

• Strength and Flexibility Training
• How to Become Flexible if You Are Very Stiff
• Flexibility Exercises for Beginners
• Flexibility Exercises at Home
• Back Stretches for Flexibility
• How Many Days Per Week Can You Perform Flexibility Exercises?
• Types of Flexibility Exercises
• Why Is It Important for Athletes to Be Flexible
• Benefits of Flexibility
• Flexibility Sports Examples
• Flexibility Workout Plan
• How Can Flexibility Training Reduce the Risk of Back Pain?
• How Frequently Should Flexibility Exercises Be Performed for Best Results?
• Flexibility Exercises for Kids