What’s the difference between hypermobility versus flexibility, and does it really matter?

Yes, it matters. It’s an interesting differentiation as it helps answer questions like will I ever have turn out like the dancer next to me who has flat turnout, or how come I can sit in frog with my knees flat on the floor in Yoga even though I never stretch? Why have I never been able to do a back bend but my sister can easily? This is also valuable info when you’re looking for goals in an exercise plan.

Let’s start with a little basic anatomy!

To keep it simple here goes: The ends of 2 bones come together to form a joint. The bones are tied together by ropes called ligaments. Some of us have long ligaments, some have short ligaments and then there’s a spectrum of everything in between.

Your ligament length is dictated by your mum, dad and possibly grandmother in other words it’s genetic and you are born that way. If you have long ligaments, you are naturally more hypermobile meaning you have lots of joint laxity, movement or bend. The hypermobile friend is the one who can easily do backbends, the one with flat turn out or banana legs. Don’t be deceived however as you may be hypermobile in some bits, but not all bits. I see that quite often. Plus, your mum’s hypermobility might have skipped your generation and so no backbends for you, but your brother is bendy.

The extreme of hypermobility will be the contortionist who can fold their body into breath taking shapes.

As the contortionist is rare, as is usually the case with the extremes of a spectrum,  more commonly you will notice bendy arms or banana knees. These are people with ligament laxity.

Am I hypermobile?

The Beighton score is a very simple scoring system to test for general ligament laxity. If you’re curious, have a go.

What does it mean if I am hypermobile?

A key focus for you to prevent injury and keep your joints as safe and secure as possible, is two-fold.

1 Don’t hang back…..literally

Try to stay away from very end of range positions as much as possible. Joint wellbeing relies on all the surrounding muscles working together as a team to hold the joint stable and safe. If you have hypermobile knees and have a habit of standing with them locked back in the banana position, the muscles become sleepy and the joint cops the load. Wear and tear here we come! Keeping the knees slightly bent will encourage the controlling muscles around the joint to activate and control the laxity of the joint. Know anyone who has subluxed or dislocated a knee? Take a closer look at how they stand.

If you have a hypermobile spine and your sport involves heaps of extension/backward movements such as dance, gymnastics, or bowling in cricket, keep your core muscles strong to offer enough hug and hold of the vertebral joints that the movement is controlled. Spinal joints that must hang on at end of range due to inadequate muscle support, take plenty of strain, or more accursately sprain, and you don’t want back pain! Or a stress fracture! Elbows, especially when you are weight bearing such as in Downward Dog in yoga, or plank position, should be kept slightly bent. This way you help strengthen the support team of muscles.

2 Stay fit and stable

A hypermobile joint needs care, love and looking after! I therefore encourage you to include stability exercises in your fitness and training, with a focus on alignment. How you move, as opposed to thinking of how much strength, power, flexibility, or endurance you can move. One way to start is to take a simple movement, such as a squat or lunge, and perform it 6 to 8 times slowly, with no weight but perfect execution, before introducing load. Watch yourself in the mirror, and check the stars are aligned. Weight bearing exercises are great to encourage improved stability such as exercises done in kneeling on all fours.

So, what’s flexibility?

Very simply, Flexibility refers to the ability to lengthen muscles. Flexibility changes depending on what exercises you do, what your sport demands and if you take the time to include movements that encourage tissue length and stretch into your wellbeing plan. You cannot blame your mum or dad for this one, it’s on your shoulders if you want to be more flexible.