Research reveals that middle-aged individuals with higher flexibility, measured by the Flexindex, show reduced mortality risks.

This study, involving over 3,000 participants, found that better flexibility is linked to a significant decrease in death rates, underlining the importance of including flexibility exercises in regular fitness routines to potentially extend life expectancy.

Flexibility exercises are often included in the exercise regimens of athletes and exercisers. New research published today (August 21) in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports suggests that levels of flexibility may affect survival in middle-aged individuals.

Flexindex: A New Measure of Flexibility

After analyzing data on 3,139 people (66% men) aged 46–65 years, investigators obtained a body flexibility score, termed Flexindex. This score was derived from a combination of the passive range of motion in 20 movements (each scored 0–4) involving 7 different joints, resulting in a score range of 0–80.

Flexindex was 35% higher in women compared with men. During an average follow-up of 12.9 years, 302 individuals (9.6%) comprising 224 men and 78 women died. Flexindex exhibited an inverse relationship with mortality risk and was nearly 10% higher for survivors compared with non-survivors in both men and women.

Flexibility’s Impact on Mortality

After taking age, body mass index, and health status into account, men and women with a low Flexindex had a 1.87- and 4.78-times higher risk of dying, respectively, than those with a high Flexindex.

“Being aerobically fit and strong and having good balance have been previously associated with low mortality. We were able to show that reduced body flexibility is also related to poor survival in middle-aged men and women,” said corresponding author Claudio Gil S. Araújo, MD, PhD, of the Exercise Medicine Clinic – CLINIMEX, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Importance of Flexibility in Aging

He added that as flexibility tends to decrease with aging, it may be worth paying more attention to flexibility exercises and routinely including assessments of body flexibility as part of all health-related physical fitness evaluations.

Reference: “Reduced body flexibility is associated with poor survival in middle-aged men and women: a prospective cohort study” 21 August 2024, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.
DOI: 10.1111/sms.14708