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Two Effective Techniques for Improving Flexibility
Comparing the benefits of stretching and strength training for mobility
The dreaded sit-and-reach test killed many aspirations of achieving the presidential physical fitness level in school. When hamstring flexibility is valued equally to upper body strength, core strength, cardiovascular endurance, and sprint speed, it’s normal to assume it’s very important.
Perhaps we shouldn’t assume that. In his 2020 paper “The Case for Retiring Flexibility as a Major Component of Physical Fitness,” James Nuzzo, PhD, argues that flexibility should not be considered a primary fitness component. “Flexibility has been researched for over 100 years,” he states. “Its track record is unimpressive, particularly when viewed in light of other components of physical fitness. Flexibility lacks predictive and concurrent validity value with meaningful health and performance outcomes. Consequently, it should be retired as a major component of fitness.”
Nuzzo isn’t saying flexibility is useless, just that it shouldn’t be considered a major component of general physical fitness — a common misconception about his paper. Strength, muscle mass, power, and cardiovascular fitness are key measures of overall health, function, and risk for chronic disease and mortality. This is not the case for flexibility. However, flexibility may be very important for some physical endeavors.
Gymnasts and dancers require substantial flexibility to complete routines. Baseball pitchers develop immense shoulder external rotation in their throwing arm. Olympic-style weight lifters require great hip, shoulder, and mid-back mobility. Conversely, runners don’t need much flexibility in any joints to perform well. While this article is focused on improving flexibility, it’s worth briefly addressing injury prevention claims.
Stretching and mobility exercises alone do not reduce injury risk. Studies suggesting a potential protective effect typically involve multimodal interventions, where stretching is combined with an active warm-up and other exercises. As I’ve previously written about in-depth, injuries are complex and are rarely isolated to a single factor.
