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We’ve previously written about the importance of building and maintaining strength and balance as we age, but flexibility is an important part of physical fitness, too.
There are many benefits to being flexible, including improved posture, mobility, and muscle coordination, as well as a reduced risk of muscle soreness and injury. Plus, these benefits are great for adopting a more positive, relaxed state of mind.
Although some people naturally have more flexibility, it can be developed by incorporating stretching into your routine. Diet can also significantly impact your flexibility, with some foods being particularly helpful at keeping you supple.
The level of flexibility that’s right for you is usually very personal. This might mean being able to reach down and put your socks on, or play with grandchildren without feeling any strain. Or, it could be about improving form, technique, and overall performance during other types of exercise, like weight training or running.
Below, we’ll explore what it means to be flexible and its importance as we age. We’ll also offer six tips to help you reach your flexibility goals.
What does it mean to be flexible?
Flexibility relates to the range of motion of the soft tissues that surround a joint. These soft tissues include muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, joint capsules, and skin.
It can help to think of these soft tissues as components of an elastic band. One that’s rarely used will often become tight and brittle, no longer stretch to its full capacity, and might even snap. However, an elastic band that gets stretched regularly through its full range of motion will usually stay supple.
Our bodies are somewhat similar. A group of soft tissues around a joint that are rarely mobilised or stretched can become short and tight, making the joint feel stiff or painful to move. Health experts believe this can lead to strains and muscle damage.
However, when a group of soft tissues around a joint are mobilised and stretched regularly, their ability to move unrestricted and pain-free can be improved and/or maintained.
Your level of flexibility will depend on many factors, including genetics, gender, age, activity levels, and history of injury or disability. It can also be specific to individual joints and muscle groups, meaning that some parts of our bodies can be more flexible than others.
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Why is improving and maintaining flexibility important as we get older?
Research shows that while we naturally lose some flexibility with age, we maintain the ability to improve flexibility with regular exercise.
This age-related decrease in flexibility happens for several reasons, including a loss of elasticity in muscles and tendons, a loss of water in soft tissues and intervertebral discs, and increased joint stiffness.
Although disused muscles and joints can become stiff or sore at any age, to counteract the loss of flexibility brought on by the ageing process, it’s important to do what we can to stay supple.
Experts have also found a connection between flexibility and balance, and say that having adequate flexibility in joints – such as our ankles, knees, and hips – can reduce the risk of falls as we age.
In addition, increased flexibility can support strength training by helping improve form and technique. Like flexibility and balance, building and maintaining muscle strength is another way to prevent falls as we get older, and can boost longevity.
During a long-term study of 3,659 people over 55, participants with more muscle mass were healthier and lived longer.
Regular stretching can also help relieve symptoms associated with arthritis, such as pain, swelling, and stiffness.
6 tips to help improve and maintain flexibility
1. Stretch regularly
Improving your flexibility isn’t something that happens overnight. Usually, it’s the result of stretching regularly over time.
Therefore, it can help to make stretching part of your daily routine. You might be surprised at how much your flexibility increases if you stretch for just five minutes a day.
If you’re looking to incorporate stretching into your fitness routine, why not book a strength and stretch class over on Rest Less Events?
Static and dynamic stretching are the two most common types of stretching that help increase flexibility…
Static stretches
Static stretching involves sitting, standing, or lying in a position that allows certain muscles or muscle groups to remain extended to their greatest length for around 15–30 seconds.
Static stretches shouldn’t be done before exercise when your muscles are cold and at their stiffest, as you could end up hurting yourself. Instead, try doing static stretches after a warm-up.
Warmer muscles tend to be more elastic, meaning you can get a deeper stretch while minimising your risk of injury. Five to 10 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity, such as walking, cycling, or light jogging, will be enough to increase blood flow to muscles and generate heat.
Once your muscles are warm, calf stretches, glute bridges, and standing quad stretches are examples of static stretches that can help loosen you up. You can learn how to do these stretches and more using this helpful guide from WebMD. Alternatively, have a watch of the video below.
Dynamic stretches
Stretching can also be an effective way to warm up muscles and increase flexibility before an exercise session. This is where dynamic stretches come into play. Dynamic stretches are movements that are similar to those performed during exercise.
With these, your joints and muscles will still move through the full range of motion repeatedly, but the stretch position isn’t held. This helps prepare the body for exercise by warming up the muscles (and other soft tissues around the joint) and increasing blood flow.
Examples of dynamic stretches include arm circles and spinal rotations. Check out this article from Healthline to see how these and some other dynamic stretches are performed – or watch the video below.
Yoga
Yoga can be a great way to improve flexibility over time as it includes dynamic and static stretches. To get started, why not check out our introductory guide to yoga or join an all-ability chair yoga session over on Rest Less Events?
A note on injury: While stretching can do wonders for the body, if you’re injured or feel sharp pain while stretching, it’s important to seek professional health advice to avoid further injury.
2. Avoid sitting for too long
Sitting for long periods – especially if your posture is poor – can lead to stiff muscles. Our bodies are very clever and will always try to make themselves more efficient at what they do most.
So, if we spend lots of time moving, our bodies will adapt and become more effective at moving, and if we spend many hours sitting down, our bodies will become more effective at sitting. This means that when we do move around, it might be trickier because our muscles are stiff and/or sore.
Keeping things moving is important for staying supple for several reasons; the main ones being that it helps us to…
- Maintain a healthy weight – which, among other benefits, can reduce the pressure placed on our joints.
- Keep our joints warm – which makes them more flexible.
- Build and maintain muscle strength – which is important for supporting joint health.
How you choose to move is completely up to you, but you should aim to do activities that you enjoy. This makes it easier to create a sustainable routine. Pilates, yoga, and walking are all great activities for supporting flexibility.
You can find more ideas on how to get moving in our fitness and exercise section. With everything from low-impact exercises and online dance classes to cycling, Nordic walking, and gym starter guides, there’s hopefully something for everyone.
You may also like to browse a range of fitness classes available over on Rest Less Events – there’s everything from Tai Chi to Pilates.
3. Stay hydrated
The water content in lean muscle mass (or fat-free mass) is around 70–75%, and when muscles are dehydrated, they won’t be able to extend and contract as fully as they would with sufficient water content. To avoid feeling stiff, it’s helpful to stay hydrated.
Your muscles will also be stronger when they’re more hydrated. This is because, without sufficient hydration, they’ll lose electrolytes and be more prone to cramping.
Water also makes up an important part of synovial fluid: an oily water-based fluid that our bodies produce to help our joints move with ease. When our joints are lacking this fluid, we can feel much stiffer.
4. Work on building and maintaining strength
Flexibility and strength go hand in hand because stronger muscles are more capable, and sometimes inflexibility can be caused by a joint not having support from strong muscles.
If you’re trying to work on flexibility, introducing strength training exercises into your routine can be a good idea. Along with flexibility, we also lose muscle mass with age, so doing what we can to build and maintain strength becomes even more important.
Doing strength exercises like squats or knee push-ups for half an hour twice a week can stimulate muscle and bone growth and increase joint stability and strength.
To find out more, check out our article: The importance of building and maintaining strength and balance in your 50s and 60s.
Worried about accessing the NHS care you need?
83% of Rest Less members are worried about accessing the healthcare they need on the NHS#, making fast access to treatment more important than ever.
HMCA private medical cover offers affordable, flexible plans, with 90% of members saving money when they switch. Enjoy peace of mind. Join today and get £150 off your subscription.
#Data from over 1,000 Rest Less members surveyed in 2025
^Data from HMCA members who joined between 01/01/25 and 30/06/25
5. Use a foam roller
Many health experts recommend foam rolling to increase soft tissue flexibility by reducing tightness and inflammation, especially when associated with injury or exercise.
A foam roller is a lightweight cylinder made of compressed foam, which is rolled over the muscles of your body most prone to stiffness – such as the lower back and calves.
During the process, you place your body on the foam roller and move back and forth. This puts pressure on your muscles, which can help break up any knots that might be preventing them from achieving their full range of motion.
If you’re interested in buying a foam roller, there are plenty on Amazon. You might also find it helpful to read Coach’s article on the best foam rollers. Or, for ideas on how to use one, check out this article from Healthline.
6. Eat anti-inflammatory foods
It can also help to take a closer look at your diet when trying to improve and maintain flexibility.
Eating foods with high amounts of sugar, processed carbohydrates, and saturated fats can cause soft tissue within the body to become inflamed, which can lead to stiffness and bloating. This is the body’s response to unwanted substances.
Luckily, we can avoid this by eating nutrient-rich anti-inflammatory foods (such as berries, mushrooms, and peppers), which are packed with antioxidants.
Research suggests that fatty fish like sardines, salmon, mackerel, herring, and anchovies – which are all high in omega-3 fatty acids – can also help reduce joint swelling and inflammation, especially for people with rheumatoid arthritis.
To find out more about anti-inflammatory foods and how to add them to your diet, check out our article: 14 anti-inflammatory foods.
Final thoughts…
Flexibility is something we often take for granted until we no longer have it. But being supple isn’t only relevant to gymnasts and yoga enthusiasts. It’s important for all of us, as it can make daily life easier and more enjoyable.
Tying our shoes, reaching for something in a cupboard, and even lowering ourselves into a car can become a struggle once our flexibility wanes. And this can affect not only our physical health, but our mental health, too.
However, the great thing about flexibility is that while it’s easily lost, it can also be easily improved and maintained.
If you need some motivation to get started, setting a goal can help. Ask yourself: “What would I like to be able to do in a few months that I can’t do today?” Or “What would I still like to be able to do by then, only better?
For more tips on staying active, head over to our fitness and exercise section.
What are your flexibility goals? Do you have any flexibility tips that you’d like to share with others? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
* Links with an * by them are affiliate links which help Rest Less stay free to use as they can result in a payment or benefit to us. You can read more on how we make money here.
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