The word flexibility comes from the Latin term "flectere," meaning "to bend." The normal bending movements of a human joint are debated among health-care professionals, but a common understanding of flexibility rests on range of motion. ROM is the pattern of movement that a joint moves through. The muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones play a part in joint movement. Flexibility is a key component of general physical fitness, but gymnasts in particular require a high level of flexibility to perform the skills of the sport.

Dynamic and Static Flexibility

Dynamic flexibility is sometimes referred to as functional flexibility because it describes the stretching of a joint during regular motion, or functional movements. Dynamic flexibility combines the bending of a joint with speed. Examples of gymnastics skills that require dynamic flexibility are a walkover and a handspring. Both skills allow the spine, shoulders and hips to bend while the body is in continual motion. Dynamic flexibility is often the focus during warm-up exercises. Gently warming up the muscles is a safe way to begin activity and prepare you for advanced flexibility training. Static flexibility refers to a stretched position that does not emphasize speed. The splits are an example of a static stretch that improves hip and groin flexibility. The goal of static positioning is to gain long-term flexibility results. Static stretching exercises are typically done at the end of a training session, once the muscles are warm and limber.

Warning Against Overstretching

Gymnasts must train for flexibility. But during training there is always the risk of overstretching. As soon as you hold your joint beyond its normal range of motion, the joint becomes less stable, less dependable under pressure, and you are in danger of serious injury. Each joint has its own range of normal movement, but the easiest way to know if you are stretching beyond the limit is if the position is painful. If your joint has exceeded its normal range of motion, the natural response is pain. Pay particular attention to any pain while stretching so that you are able to avoid overstretching and injury.

Specific-Joint Flexibility

Taking the time to improve the flexibility of a specific joint happens most often after an injury has occurred and you are trying to regain a loss of range of motion. However, specific-joint flexibility can be a valuable training component because it allows you to target a particular area of stiffness, tightness or limitation. As an example, many gymnasts focus on stretching the shoulder joint because it must independently move the whole body during skills on the bars.

Multiple-Joint Flexibility

Many skills in gymnastics use multiple joints and require the flexibility of more than one joint at a time. For example, the splits demand flexibility of the knees, hips, ankles and toes if full marks are to be awarded during competition. Therefore, during regular training, multiple-joint flexibility exercises meet the demands of the sport and also provide balance and proper posture to the body.


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