Flexibility

How it is used

Used in gymnastics, dance, yoga, martial arts and physio. You improve or lack flexibility, and fitness tests often measure it with the sit-and-reach test. It is often discussed together with mobility.

Example sentences

1. Gymnasts need great flexibility in their hips and shoulders.

2. Her flexibility has improved since she started yoga.

Common collocations

• improve flexibility
• hamstring flexibility
• flexibility test
• lack of flexibility

Related terms

• mobilityThe ability to move a joint actively and with control through its full range of motion; it depends on strength and joint health as well as flexibility.
• stretchTo lengthen a muscle by moving part of the body and holding the position, to improve flexibility or to relax after exercise.
• martial artsTraditional systems of fighting and self-defence, such as karate, judo, taekwondo and kung fu, practised as sport, exercise or discipline.
• hamstringOne of the three muscles at the back of the thigh that bend the knee and extend the hip; the group is usually called the hamstrings.

More terms: Muscles & the Body

• muscle
• quadriceps
• core
• abs
• glutes
• tendon
• ligament