More often than not, all we hear about is the importance of strength or cardio. These are both incredibly important when it comes to your overall health and fitness- nobody’s arguing with that! But we often don’t bring flexibility into the mix. As we age, flexibility becomes critical for a number of key reasons. So, let’s show you exactly why.
Maintaining Mobility and Independence
Good flexibility can help with so many different things, such as our balance and range of motion, and can aid in muscle and joint health, meaning that as we get older, we remain active and independent. People are far more conscious of the long-term impacts of certain practices, whether it’s running and how it can affect their joints later in life, or doing too much strength training. But there are so many keys to flexibility that can unlock a lot of these issues and help us to feel far more vibrant within ourselves.
The fact is, there’s an abundance of private pilates classes that can ensure you tackle your particular problems. So many of us experience lower back pain and don’t have a good range of motion because we’ve been sitting in front of a computer for decades. Something like lower back pain can be fixed by doing hip flexor stretches, because they become tighter and shorter the more time we spend sitting down.
Preventing Injuries
Maintaining flexibility as we age can significantly reduce the risk of injuries. Whether you’re lifting objects or getting out of bed, flexibility gives us that increased range of motion, ensuring that we are not just strong in one part of our body but throughout our entire body. This is why lots of strength training programs fail – they don’t address the individual. We should all recognize that if we want to participate in strength-enhancing exercises, we don’t just do the ones we’re told to do. We have to address our weaknesses. You may not be very good at squats because of your range of motion, so you shouldn’t necessarily squat heavy loads but actually focus on alternatives to squats.
It’s also important to remember that if we lift too much too soon, we’re going to injure ourselves, which means we spend more time out of action. We should develop strength naturally, and this is as much about listening to our bodies’ reactions to this type of stress as it is about enhancing flexibility. This is where practices like isometric exercises are wonderful because you get the best bang for your buck in terms of increasing strength while also doing it safely. That’s not to say range of motion isn’t important, flexibility is critical, but we can create an exercise program that focuses on strength and flexibility at the same time.
Fighting Against the Tide of Aging
From the age of 25, collagen levels begin to decline, and this means our cartilage, tendons, muscles, and bones become less flexible over time. Our muscle fibers, in particular, will reduce in number and size, and lost muscle tissue will be replaced with tougher, more fibrous tissue.
As our bodies become more dehydrated, this can result in the stiffening of connective tissue. Therefore, focusing on flexibility is far more important, particularly as we enter our 40s and beyond.
Reduction in Pain
The more stress we have in our lives, the more we subconsciously tighten our bodies. As we get older, we need to address this tightness in our muscles, which can contribute to various types of pain.
Sitting in certain positions can increase our levels of pain, but improved flexibility can reduce this, particularly in our back, shoulders, and neck. Couple this with something like progressive muscle relaxation, and we will invariably benefit.
Enhanced Physical Performance
Flexibility means that our muscles are working more efficiently, and therefore, our overall physical performance will increase.
We should remember that day-to-day movements need to be easy, but there are still many people who believe that they will just deteriorate as they get older. This does not have to be the case; it’s just about making sure that you do focus on those things that aren’t natural to you anymore.
A Better Quality of Life
We also need to remember that flexibility will benefit us not just in terms of the above, but regular flexibility exercises can contribute to our sleep quality, which is crucial, especially when you hit your 40s and beyond while also leading a busy life. Flexibility exercises can also bring mindfulness to your routine, which is why something like yoga is so popular.
As you can see, maintaining flexibility as we age is crucial for a huge range of reasons. Want to get better as you get older? Focus on flexibility!