{"id":95481,"date":"2025-08-27T03:57:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T03:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/95481\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T03:57:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T03:57:06","slug":"the-best-exercise-to-stay-flexible-by-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/95481\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Exercise To Stay Flexible, By Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll rant to anyone I know about the importance of maintaining muscle mass<\/a> as we age to prevent conditions like sacropeonia<\/a> and even osteoporosis<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Cardiovascular health has also been linked to longevity<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But what about flexibility? Though it might be less talked about than the other two, this, too, has been linked to a longer life<\/a>, especially among men.<\/p>\n

You may know the importance of lifting weights for strength and understand that everything from tennis to cycling and running can improve your heart health. <\/p>\n

What, though, does a person to increase their flexibility \u2013 and does it change over time? <\/p>\n

We asked personal trainers to share their thoughts:<\/p>\n

In your 20s and 30s<\/p>\n

James Bickerstaff, a personal trainer at Origym<\/a>, told us: \u201cIn your 20s and 30s, your body still has natural elasticity, so muscles and joints move easily and recover quickly\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, he adds, sitting for long periods of time (as you may do for work) can hold your flexibility back. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo maintain mobility, focus on stretching major muscle groups by performing dynamic stretches such as leg swings for the hips and static chest openers for the upper body,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n

\u201cShort daily sessions, along with activities like yoga, Pilates, or tai chi, can help prevent stiffness.\u201d <\/p>\n

In your 40s and 50s <\/p>\n

Trainer and owner of Made Possible Personal Training,<\/a> a gym which works mainly with those aged 50 and up, Heather Lachance, said: \u201cOne of the biggest things I try to help people understand is that losing flexibility isn\u2019t a given\u201d. <\/p>\n

But in our 40s and 50s, she said, more of us notice we\u2019re not as flexible as we used to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage, adding 10 minutes of mobility work a few times a week, especially dynamic movements before workouts and static stretches afterwards, can go a long way,\u201d she advised. <\/p>\n

\u201cLeg swings, hip openers, thoracic rotations, that sort of thing. It doesn\u2019t need to be complicated; it just needs to be done consistently.\u201d <\/p>\n

For his part, Bickerstaff recommends swimming and dancing alongside stretches.<\/p>\n

In your 60s <\/p>\n

\u201cIn your 60s and later years, joints become less mobile, cartilage thins, and muscles tighten more easily,\u201d Bickerstaff explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can make everyday tasks feel restricted and raise the risk of falls. At this stage, flexibility work is about protecting independence and helping you move safely.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lachance stated that yoga and pilates can be great in this decade as they provide a \u201clow-impact\u201d form of exercise.<\/p>\n

In your 70s and beyond <\/p>\n

At this age, Lachance said, \u201cThe conversation becomes more about maintaining independence, things like being able to get up off the floor, move confidently through space, and reduce the falling risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, I pair flexibility with balance and strength work. Chair-based stretching, simple guided routines, and daily movement all play a role.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sated hamstring and tricep stretches can help, Bickerstaff agreed, as can resistance bands and plain ol\u2019 walking \u2015 gentle, daily movement is key. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter the age, the message is the same: you don\u2019t need to be able to do the splits, but you do need to move well enough to live your life without restriction,\u201d Lachance ended. <\/p>\n

\u201cFlexibility is really about freedom! Freedom to keep doing the things you enjoy without pain or hesitation.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ll rant to anyone I know about the importance of maintaining muscle mass as we age to prevent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[5079,6647,102,6958,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-95481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ageing","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-longevity","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}