Flexibility Linked to Longer, Healthier Life
New research suggests another way to stretch out your time on this planet
It’s well established that physical fitness cultivates good health and longevity. Both aerobic fitness and strength — from activities as minimal as brisk daily walking and twice-weekly resistance workouts — help insulate us from chronic health issues. Physical activity lifts moods and augers against mental health declines. It improves balance, too, which protects against falls as we get older.
It’s no stretch to say we hear far less about the long-term health benefits of flexibility.
But new research, based on data on 3,139 people ages 46 to 65, links flexibility to longevity. Researchers scored participants on their range of motion in seven different joints and 20 different movements, then followed up on their health status for 13 years, during which time 302 of the people died. After the researchers accounted for differences in age and other health measures, people who were least flexible were significantly more apt to die than the most flexible individuals.
“Being aerobically fit and strong and having good balance have been previously associated with low mortality,” said the study’s lead author, Claudio Gil S. Araújo, MD, who works at the Exercise Medicine Clinic in…
