Flexibility and Athletic Performance
Definition of Flexibility
For our purposes, flexibility is
defined as the amount of range of motion around a joint.
The more motion that you have in a joint, the more
flexible that you are.
Flexibility Importance
Some research has shown that lack of
flexibility has a more negative impact on sports performance than any
other factor. That means that no matter
how much you lift,
run,
or jump,
if you aren’t flexible, you will not likely perform well in your sport.
This is because there is a
length-tension relationship that we must take advantage of for running
fast or jumping
high. That means that in order to get
the full potential strength
and power out of a muscle, we need to be able to use as much of the
length of the muscle as possible. Once the
muscle is pre-stretched, it is ready for quick and explosive action. If you are too tight, you may not be able to
put certain muscles on a pre-stretch, thus robbing you of power.
Another way that lack of flexibility
will affect your performance is through joint and body positioning. If you are tight in specific muscle groups,
you may not be able to put parts of your body in positions that are
advantageous for your performance. For
example, if you are tight in your calf muscles, you likely will walk
with your feet pointed outward. Running
and jumping
with your feet pointed outward in this way will cause you to only use
half of your calf muscle when it contracts. It’s
not hard to figure out that this will limit your performance.
Likewise if you are trying to sprint
with tight hip flexors, you will not be able to reach
full hip extension when you are pushing against the ground to sprint. This will limit your glute and hip firing,
which will rob you of valuable power.
5
Myths About Flexibility
