Having a supple body is beneficial for all physical activity — not just exercise but also everyday activities like reaching to pick up objects or bending down to tie your shoelace. Recognizing the importance of flexibility, Zing Coach recently added Stretching to our repertoire of available workouts types.

However, you should know by now that Zing Coach always tries to offer more than just world-class workout content — we strive to provide you with the science-backed insights you need to live a healthier life.

That’s why you can now measure your flexibility using Zing Vision’s motion-tracking technology, with Zing Coach’s comprehensive new assessment, the Flexibility Test.

How the Flexibility Test Works

The Flexibility Test uses Zing Vision — Zing Coach’s innovative computer vision technology — to track your body with your smartphone camera as you perform a few simple stretches, analyzing your movement and range of motion.

Once the test is complete, Zing Coach calculates the relative flexibility of your different muscle groups and combines them into your overall Flexibility Score, which is compared to benchmarks for your age, gender and other body data.

Why You Should Measure Your Flexibility

Flexibility is your muscles’ ability to lengthen, which is different to mobility, which refers to the your joints’ range of motion. Just like muscle strength and cardiovascular stamina, flexibility can be improved with training — which is why it’s important to correctly benchmark your flexibility at different stages in your training to track your progress.

By measuring how flexible different parts of your body are and comparing your results to people like you, you discover where your flexibility is good and in what areas you can afford to improve. Only once you understand your limits can you learn how to stretch them!

You should test your flexibility before you start stretching regularly, then again at regular intervals as you work out and complete Stretching workouts to measure your progress.

The Benefits of Greater Flexibility

Being flexible has a range of benefits for physical activity, both holistic and with regards to workout performance.

Improved flexibility can help to relieve chronic pain in some parts of the body, improve sleep quality in people with insomnia, and increase maximum walking speed in older adults. Walking speed is indicator for predicting health status in later life, with higher speeds relating to a better quality of life.

When it comes to working out, flexible muscles allow for larger ranges of motion within certain exercises which can reduce muscle imbalances. Additionally, increased range of motion helps prevent injuries by enabling fluid movements. Not to mention that flexibility can reduce muscle soreness and stiffness — especially for people who train regularly and at high intensity.

This all points to the fact that you should be working on your flexibility like any other physical ability, and keeping track of your progress and gains as you would for strength training.

How to Improve Your Flexibility

The easiest way to improve your flexibility and range of motion is by completing Stretching workouts on Zing Coach. The best part? After you’ve spent some time working on your flexibility, you can retake the Flexibility Test to try to increase your your Flexibility Score!

Ready to get flexy? Try Zing Coach for free today and improve your flexibility in no time!