Flexibility, clarified
A Sports Medicine review just disentangled ‘range of motion’ from ‘flexibility’ — and ‘flexibility training’ from simple stretching — saying the distinctions matter for mobility and injury prevention. The takeaway: programs should go beyond basic stretches and be tailored to the functional joint ranges you actually need. (link.springer.com)
The paper, titled "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others: Disentangling…", appears as a Current Opinion piece in Sports Medicine and lists Anthony J. Blazevich, David G. Behm, Markus Tilp and Konstantin Warneke as authors (accepted 5 Sep 2025, published 25 Mar 2026). (link.springer.com) The authors state that range of motion (ROM) is shaped by both modifiable factors (soft‑tissue extensibility and neural control) and non‑modifiable factors (bone geometry), while “flexibility” is framed more narrowly as periarticular soft‑tissue extensibility. (link.springer.com) The review separates “stretching” as a specific technique from broader “flexibility training,” noting that alternative approaches—including loaded and strength‑based exercises—are endorsed in recent commentaries as viable methods to increase ROM. (link.springer.com) (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) Meta‑analyses cited in the literature show static stretching reliably increases ROM in the short and long term (one pooled review analysed 47 eligible studies), but training variables such as duration, intensity and exercise type strongly influence outcomes. (link.springer.com) The authors and recent reviews also flag that adjuncts like foam rolling do not consistently add ROM gains beyond stretching, and that field experts have been calling for standardized guidance because study heterogeneity hampers clear practice rules. (doaj.org) (sciencedirect.com) Lead authors’ institutional profiles confirm Blazevich’s long‑standing work in biomechanics at Edith Cowan University and Warneke’s research base at Friedrich‑Schiller‑University Jena, placing the review in the context of multiple recent contributions from those labs on stretching intensity, load and functional outcomes. (tonyblazevich.com) (scholar.google.com)
