A groundbreaking study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science has revealed a potential link between body flexibility and longevity, offering insights into how a simple fitness test could predict life expectancy. The study evaluated over 3,100 healthy middle-aged adults using a tool called the “Flexinder,” which measures flexibility through 20 different movements. The findings suggest that people with lower flexibility scores were at a significantly higher risk of premature death—up to five times more—compared to their more flexible counterparts.
Dr. Claudio Gil D. Araújo, a sports medicine physician and the corresponding author of the study, explained that while fitness components like aerobic strength and balance have long been associated with lower mortality, flexibility had not been closely examined as a predictive factor until now. “Our study shows that reduced body flexibility is also linked to poor survival in middle-aged men and women,” said Dr. Araújo.
The “Flexinder” test, developed by Dr. Araújo over 40 years ago, measures the range of motion in seven key joints: the ankle, knee, hip, torso, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. Interestingly, the research found that women were generally 35% more flexible than men. The study’s results are considered the first of their kind to show a strong correlation between flexibility and mortality in a large cohort of men and women.
Key movements in the flexibility test include:
Ankle dorsiflexion: Moving the foot so the toes approach the knee.
Ankle plantar flexion: Moving the foot downward away from the body.
Knee flexion and extension: Bending and straightening the knee joint.
Shoulder adduction and extension: Moving the upper limb toward and away from the body’s midline.
The study emphasizes that flexibility might play an essential role in overall physical health, suggesting that improving flexibility may contribute to a longer, healthier life.
