November 2025

Can Flexibility Enhance Longevity?

Practitioners of yoga and Pilates, or any proponents of stretching and flexibility, espouse the health and subjective benefits of increased range of motion (ROM) of joints. While fitness and wellness experts recognize the importance of functional or improved ROM, there has not been any proof that it leads to longer lives, just better ones.

A multicontinental consortium of researchers tested this hypothesis using a Flexitest device to measure ROM of 20 movements across 7 major joints. They then tracked anthropometric, health and vital data from 3139 people (66% males) aged 46-65 years from 1994 to 2022.

The scores of all 20 movements were summed to create what they called a “Flexindex” score which ranged from 0-80; this then represented a gauge of a subject’s overall body flexibility. Accounting for other risk factors like age, body mass index, and overall health status, they found that men in the lowest 10% of flexibility had a 21.2% death rate compared to a 7.8% death rate for those in the top 10%. For women, the lowest 10% of flexibility had a 15.4% seat rate vs a mere 2.0% risk for those in the top 10%! And, yes, women are generally about 35% more flexible than men.

While there are always limitations to any study that might mitigate the potency of these results – such as the higher socioeconomic and educational levels of the subjects – the results are still intriguing.

The clear implication is that those who use their bodies in activities that challenge and support moving through larger ROM are likely to live longer.

As the authors note, “paying attention to flexibility …could be beneficial [for] longevity.” But it’s likely movement overall that matters most.                                              

Scandinav J  Med & Sci in Sports, Aug. 2024

Maintaining or Gaining Muscle Mass While Dieting

Energy deficiency, whether from lack of calories or an imbalance between activity and nutrition, decreases muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Still unknown is whether or not it’s a lack of essential amino acids (EAA: the building blocks of protein) or simply the lack of sufficient calories that impacts MPS. A study tried to discern this by having 17 volunteers consume an isocaloric whey supplement with added EAA (56 g protein, 48 g) or added carbohydrate (34 g protein, 40 g carbs) after an exercise bout. The twist here was that one workout was performed after 5 days in energy-balance (enough calories to compensate for each individual’s needs) and one in caloric deficit (after 5 days eating 30% fewer calories than needed to be in caloric balance.)

Protein synthesis rates were greater after the added EAA compared to the carb group.

Whole-body protein synthesis rates were also higher in the EAA group. Likewise, protein breakdown rates were lower in the EAA group, allowing for much more efficient protein accretion after muscle-damaging resistance exercise. (Muscle damage is actually a desirable precursor to building muscle strength and mass, so anything that expedites restoration of protein balance is a positive.)

Indeed, net protein balance was more than double in the EAA group than the carb group.

The conclusion that “supplementing EAA-enriched whey protein with more energy as EAA, not carbohydrate, maintains postexercise MPS during energy deficit at rates comparable to those observed during energy balance” demonstrated the value of proper and sufficient supplementation to sustain well-being in the context of dieting.                                           

MSSE Aug. 2025

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