How to Improve Your Flexibility and Range of Motion

7 tips for increasing your flexibility even when you think you can’t improve your flexibility.

by Brad Walker | Updated January 22, 2025

How to Improve Your Flexibility

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to increase your flexibility: even if you feel like you’ve tried everything? Avoid these common stretching mistakes, and then read through the 7 best tips below; guaranteed to smash through that plateau and take you to a whole new level of flexibility.

1. Injury Equals Poor Flexibility

Injuries, whether tears, sprains, strains, aches, pains, niggles, twinges, or sore spots, will quickly put a stop to your flexibility hopes and dreams.

Any time you have an injury of any kind (even one you don’t realize you’ve got), your body recognizes that as a weak link in the chain and will tighten the surrounding muscles. This is your body’s protective defense mechanism to prevent further damage to the injured tissues and their surrounding structures.

This is not limited to the tissues that have been injured. An injury in your back for example, will often prevent you from improving flexibility in your hamstring or calf muscles. An injury to your hips or knees may prevent you from improving flexibility in your shoulders or upper back.

Tip #1: Work hard to get rid of all injuries, including tears, sprains, strains, and especially aches, pains, niggles, twinges, and sore spots.

2. Mobilize and Manipulate then Stretch

To get the best results from stretching it’s important that the joints and associated soft tissues are prepared for the stretching they’re about to receive. To do this use gentle mobilization exercises and joint manipulations before stretching.

These can include traction (gentle pulling on a limb or body part to open up the joint), vibration, shaking, joint rotations, massage (with your own fingers, a lacrosse ball, a massage stick, or other massage tool), trigger point work and foam rolling.

Tip #2: Loosen up the joint and surrounding tissues first with gentle mobilization and joint manipulation before stretching.

3. Strength complements Flexibility

You may be thinking: What’s strength got to do with flexibility? Well, quite a bit. In fact, strength and flexibility are much related. Or should I say, interrelated.

The flexibility of a muscle is very dependent on the strength of that muscle: Especially, strength at the end ranges of motion. It’s like your body won’t let you go past a certain level of flexibility until it knows you have the muscle strength to handle that improved range of motion.

Muscle strength is critical to joint stability, so if you’re trying to improve your flexibility around a particular joint, but the muscles that stabilize that joint are weak, all you’re doing is making that joint more vulnerable to injury.

Tip #3: Work on strength as well as flexibility. As the strength of your muscle improves, especially at the end ranges of motion, so will your flexibility.

4. Types of Stretching

There are many different types of stretching (or ways to stretch), and all of them have their advantages and disadvantages. Some are more suitable for warming up; some are better for injury rehabilitation; while others are great for athletic improvement.

Dynamic stretching, for example, is great for warming up and assisting athletes involved in sports that require fast ballistic type movements. But dynamic stretching is not the best choice for improving flexibility. So which types of stretching are best for improving range of motion?

Static stretching is by far the best form of stretching for improving your flexibility and range of motion. In particular, long hold static stretching (held for longer than 30 seconds) and PNF stretching. Static stretches are stretching exercises that are performed without movement. In other words, you get into the stretch position and hold the stretch for a specific amount of time.

Tip #4: Long hold static stretching and PNF Stretching are the most effective forms of stretching for improving your flexibility quickly and permanently.

5. Variety of Stretches

There’s 100’s of muscles in the body and it’s not uncommon for one muscle group to be made up of two, three or more smaller muscles. And they’re all somewhat interconnected to each other.

Tight hamstrings can cause lower back problems; tight hip muscles can lead to knee pain; and tight chest muscles can cause upper back pain.

If you’re trying to improve the flexibility of your hamstrings for example, then you need to be doing as many different hamstring stretches as you can think of. You need to do hamstring stretches with your leg out in front, and with your leg out to the side. You need to do hamstring stretches with a bent knee, and with a straight knee. You need to stretch both legs at the same time, and you need to stretch one leg at a time. You need to vary the position of your hips, and you need to vary the position of your feet.

And if you really want to improve the flexibility of your hamstrings, you need to stretch your lower back, your buttocks, your hips, your groin, and your calves.

Tip #5: Don’t do the same old boring stretches all the time; include a variety of stretches for all your muscle groups.

6. When to Stretch

Stretching before exercise or as part of your warm-up is great, but pre-exercise stretching is not meant to improve your flexibility; its purpose is simply to prepare you for exercise. So, if you want to improve your flexibility, when is the best time to stretch?

One of the best times to stretch is about 2 hours after your work-out. This is when your muscles have had some time to recover, but are still relatively warm and pliable, which makes it much easier to stretch and reach new levels of flexibility.

Another great time to stretch is just before going to bed. This works at a neuromuscular level, as the increased muscle length is the last thing your nervous system remembers before going to sleep. Sleep, is also the time when your muscles and soft tissues heal, which means your muscles are healing in an elongated, or stretched position.

Tip #6: Do most of your flexibility training about 2 hours after your workouts, or late in the evening. This will help to improve your flexibility on a more permanent or longer-lasting basis.

7. Hydration, Nutrition and Sleep

A lot of this goes without saying, but increased hydration, good nutrition, adequate sleep, and good emotional health, are vital for good flexibility and good health in general.

Muscles are made up of about 75% water, so to keep muscles and associated soft tissues supple and flexible stay hydrated. Eat 100% certified organic fruits, vegetables, and meats. Cut out processed food and eliminate as many additives and preservatives as you can. Eat slowly and chew your food. You shouldn’t just eat food for the sake of eating; you should enjoy and savor every mouthful.

Aim to get 9 hours of good quality sleep a night. I know that may seem unrealistic but try to aim for that. You’ll be surprised what a good sleep will do for you. And take care of your mental and emotional health.

Tip #7: Your general health and well-being are vital to your fitness and flexibility; keep hydrated, eat healthy and get adequate sleep.