Flexibility is the most underrated, underappreciated and unsung hero of the exercise and sporting worlds.

When we watch sports, we are so often impressed by the strongest and fastest competitors. Even if a participant loses, we still give them credit if they were the fastest player on the pitch, or stronger than the victorious opponent.

The most popular athletes of all, however – the ones who make it on to teenage bedroom posters – are those that display the type of body composition you might expect from a fitness magazine cover model.

Body composition is a measure of the muscle to fat ratio that constitutes an athlete’s physique and is a component of fitness that can be easily appreciated by the naked eye.

Speed, strength, power and body composition are the rock stars of fitness. They’re glamorous and exciting. We like to watch them and we respect athletes who exhibit them. The 100m sprint is one of the most popular events at the summer Olympics; we just love to watch athletes on the football field or elsewhere who can dominate opponents with their strength and power, and body composition is what makes them beautiful.

A weightlifter must maintain a tightly arched lower back throughout the performance of a lift, particularly when first lifting the weight off the floor

But what about stamina? It is just as important as speed, strength and body composition, but nobody seems to break doors down to watch the 10km race at an athletics championship or sit through an entire televised marathon. Stamina is almost like the wise old warrior who wins over younger and livelier opponents by stealth and guile. Like an old dancefloor wallflower, nobody likes to play with stamina, but she isn’t alone.

Over the years, I have come to notice that none of the glamour components are possible in any profound way without the presence of another that is hidden.

Of all the facets of fitness, stamina included, none is neglected more so than flexibility. In discussions about fitness or the physical attributes of athletes, it is all too often the forgotten component.

Flexibility is the most underrated, underappreciated and unsung hero of the exercise and sporting worlds. Not only does it help protect us from injury but without it nothing else would be permitted to flourish.

Many injuries that don’t come acutely from any specific trauma or impact are a result of the overuse of various muscles, tendons or ligaments due to too much of the wrong movement or, in other words, ineffective technique. Sometimes tight muscles can hinder us from adopting certain positions required for the performance of safe and optimum technique.

A weightlifter, for example, must maintain a tightly arched lower back throughout the performance of a lift, particularly when first lifting the weight off the floor.

If the hamstrings are tight, they cause the hips to roll backwards, which in turn bends the back. If the back bends, then the technique cannot be optimum. If the wrong muscles and movements are being employed, then the resulting performance will be subpar.

When body parts are forced out of place, other muscles can come into play to compensate for the problem. If the compensation involves the movement of some other joint, then an overuse injury could also develop there, spiralling the problem out of control.

A similar scenario plays out when one leg is too long for the other. The misaligned hips put the back up top and the knees down below out of place ever so slightly, resulting in the spread of aches and pains to other parts of the body away from the original site.

Just by getting in the habit of performing a simple and basic stretching routine after each and every workout can make all the difference to not only injury prevention but performance. Stretching exercises effectively increase the range of motion capable at key joints, allowing body parts involved in functional movements to perform their tasks uninhibited.

Just as a long jumper needs a nice, long run-up to gather enough speed and momentum for a successful and powerful jump, so too do body parts executing throwing, shooting or passing techniques.

If an athlete is required to achieve a certain range of movement to perform a skill, then lack of flexibility can inhibit that range, resulting in the production of less momentum generation and, ultimately, less power. Similarly, a shot putter must apply force to the shot for as long as possible and through as great a range as possible before releasing it, and tight muscles would ultimately result in the equivalent of a shorter run-up.

It’s not just athletes who need flexibility either; we all do. Tight back muscles, tight gluteals (muscles of the backside) and tight hip flexors all act in and around the pelvic girdle. Tightness in any of these areas could alter the tilt of the pelvis, causing the curvature of the lower back to be either accentuated or neutralised. When the spine is taken out of alignment, pressure may become exerted on any of the nerves emanating from the spinal chord. Pressure on a nerve means pain and discomfort to any of the muscles or body parts that nerve serves. Sciatica, for example, is a result of pressure acting on the sciatic nerve, which runs down the backside of the legs.

Tightness in the muscles around the shoulders can similarly affect nerves to produce neck pain.

The good news is that we don’t need to do anything fancy to reap the benefits of greater flexibility; just a basic, full-body stretching routine done at the end of a workout or when fully warmed up.

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt