The importance of physical activity for overall health is well-established, gaining even greater gravitas as we age. Researchers from the Exercise Medicine Clinic, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, wanted to know whether a specific fitness component, ie flexibility, could impact longevity. The study team assessed around 3,000 people, gathering data over 28 years, checking flexibility change across 20 areas in the body.
Firstly, the results supported previous research showing that females are generally more flexible than males, scoring 35% higher on average, using the Flexindex, a score between 0 and 4 for each joint assessed.
The key takeaway, however, is that men with low flexibility scores had a 1.9 times higher chance of dying compared to those with high scores. That gap is even more significant for women, with this risk…
