Chapter 10 – FlexibilityNASPA Standards:

10.1 – Nature and Purpose of Flexibility10.2 – Improving Flexibility 1

10.1 – Nature and Purpose of Flexibility

4 Objectives:1. Describe the characteristics of flexibility.2. Explain how you benefit from good flexibility.3. Explain why it is important to balance

strength and flexibility exercises.4. Explain how the fitness principles of

overload, progression, and specificity apply to flexibility. 2

What is Flexibility?

Flexibility is the ability to move your joints through a full range of motion. Two types of joints are:• Hinge joint – works like a hinge, allowing

movement in only two directions. (knees/elbows)

• Ball and socket joint – allows movement in all directions. (hip/shoulder)

Range of motion is the amount of movement you can make in a joint. 3

Benefits of Good Flexibility

Improved Function• Everyone needs a

minimum amount of flexibility for everyday task.

• Some people need more flexibility depending on the task they perform.

Improved Health and Wellness• Stretching exercises help

prevent injury, soreness, and have a beneficial effect on certain conditions.

• Provide relief from leg cramps and shin splints

• Improve posture• Prevent or relieve back pain• Reduce fatigue• Relieve stress 4

Characteristics of Flexibility

Body Building and Flexibility –• Some people will never be able to score as well

on flexibility tests as others, no matter how much they stretch.

• Anatomical differences help determine what we can and cannot do.

• Do not compare your fitness scores with others. Compare your scores with your own previous scores. 5

Characteristics continued….

Hypermobility – the ability to extend the knee, elbow, thumb, or wrist joint past a straight line, as if a joint could bend backward.• Often called “double

jointed”• Inherited trait• People with hypermobility

may be prone to injuries and the development of arthritis

Joint Laxity – when a joint allows the bones to move in ways other than intended.• Occurs when the ligaments

around the joint are overstretched.

• Can lead to sprains, torn cartilage, and dislocations.

• Ligaments cannot be strengthened by exercise, however strengthening the muscles around a joint can help reduce looseness. 6

Balancing Strength and Flexibility

• Strength and flexibility should go together.• Only doing strength exercises can lead to a loss of

normal range of motion. (muscle-bound)• If you only do flexibility exercises, then your joints may

become susceptible to injury, because strong muscles are needed to reinforce the ligaments that hold the bones together.

• A balanced exercise program includes both strength and flexibility exercises for all your muscles, so they can apply equal force on all sides of a joint.

• Keeping muscles on opposite sides of a joint in balance helps them pull with equal force in all directions. 7

Fitness Principles and Flexibility

Principle of overload -• To increase flexibility you

need to stretch or lengthen your muscles more than you normally do in daily activities.

• You need additional force such as your own body weight, a partner, or a weight to assist in the stretch.

Principal of progression –• Gradually increase the

intensity of exercise. (i.e. stretching further, longer, more reps)

• Maintain your flexibility once you have reached your goal. 8

Fitness Principles continued…

Principle of specificity –• Flexibility exercises

improve ONLY the specific joints that you stretch.

• Overall flexibility is achieved by stretching all of your body’s muscles.

Maintaining flexibility –• Once you have reached

your flexibility goal you must continue to move all your joints and muscles through this new improved range of motion on a regular basis. 9

10.1 Checking for Understanding

1. What are the characteristics of flexibility?2. How do you benefit from good flexibility?3. Why is it important to balance strength and

flexibility exercises?4. How do the fitness principles of overload,

progression, and specificity apply to flexibility?

10.2 Improving FlexibilityNASPE Standards:

3 Objectives –1. Explain the difference between static

stretching, PNF stretching, and ballistic stretching.

2. Describe the fitness target zones for static and ballistic exercise.

3. List the guidelines for doing flexibility exercises safely. 1