Strength Training and Flexibility: Brand New Study

This month, authors of a meta-analysis published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research provide our most up-to-date understanding of the role of strength training on joint flexibility.   

The authors included 36 studies with nearly 1500 male and female participants in their meta-analysis.   

The result: Strength training significantly improves flexibility. 

Interestingly, the researchers discovered that working with a higher level of intensity (closer to failure or to failure) produced the greatest benefit in flexibility.  They state, “The effect on flexibility seems to be particularly significant when performing high-intensity resistance training compared with low-intensity RT.” 

The authors conclude, “The possibility of improving joint flexibility through resistance training could open to the possibility of more time-efficient and enjoyable training routines for different age brackets and levels of training. Given the large strength improvements in the first months of resistance training, this modality of training may be favored when considering time and resources allocation constraints. Resistance training is already included in most international guidelines for physical activity because of its effects on muscle functionality, bone strength, as well as health-related quality of life in older adults; therefore, the perspective of improving joint flexibility at the same time could further strengthen the argument for its inclusion in most training routines.” 

The outcomes of this study run polar opposite to the wisdom of coaches and educators in the 1960s and 1970s, in which it was common to ban athletes from lifting weights for the fear of losing flexibility.   

Take home message: Strength training enhances flexibility, and intense strength training further maximizes this benefit.