What is suppleness?
Suppleness is the ability to move the muscles and joints of the body easily and fully. It is one of the four key aspects of fitness, the other three being strength, stamina and skill.
Suppleness could also be defined as flexibility and is assessed by seeing how easy people move and in particular how much they can move their joints. It is often helpful to think of stiffness as well as suppleness because stiffness is the other side of the coin. As people lose suppleness they become stiffer and the usual reason for this is that what are called the connecting tissues become less elastic.
Get a hold of a leg of lamb or a chicken leg. A leg of lamb is best if you are not a vegetarian. What you see in a leg of lamb is a bright red muscle but surrounding that muscle is a thick and tough but flexible coating of connecting tissue.
Also running through the muscle you can see white tissue subdividing the muscle into different compartments. This is all connective tissue. Furthermore the tendons which join the muscle to the bone and the ligaments, thick tissue that links one bone to another on either side of the joint, are also made of connective tissue. In young people this connective tissue is more elastic and there is no doubt that the normal biological of ageing process reduces the elasticity of connective tissue, that why is mutton is tougher than lamb.
However, the loss of elasticity results not only from ageing but from loss of fitness.
People who have kept supple, for example by practicing yoga all their life, do not experience this loss of suppleness and stiffness.
There are some diseases that affect connective tissue but the main cause of loss of suppleness is inactivity.
Why is suppleness important?
Much of the emphasis on training in the past has been on strength and stamina but, increasingly, professionals know that suppleness is at least as important, not only for professional sportsmen but also for every individual who wishes to stay independent and feel and function well.
Loss of suppleness means an inability to do certain everyday tasks such as putting on a pair of socks, and loss of suppleness can therefore be one of the key factors increasing dependency and leading to disability and the need for care.
Fortunately we now know that suppleness can be improved at any age even if an individual has developed a disease such as Parkinson’s disease or arthritis which reduces suppleness as part of its effects.
What can you do?
The most important step is to recognise that stiffness is not an inevitable consequence of ageing. Stiffness often increases as we live longer but that is principally because we live longer sitting immobile. People who have started yoga or tai chi in their twenties and kept it going are usually remarkably supple, even able to do the splits. Of course if a disease comes along that impairs ability, rheumatoid arthritis for example or Parkinson’s disease, then suppleness is limited but, as always, people who have a disease that can increase the risk of stiffness, often have an additional complication - loss of fitness. It is even more important for people with diseases that limit mobility to do activities to maintain and improve suppleness than people who do not have such a disease.
The core exercise programme should be at least ten minutes a day focused on strength, skill and suppleness. Of these three to five minutes should be spent on suppleness but this should increase every decade. It would not be an unreasonable for people in their eighties and nineties to be spending ten minutes a day on suppleness. You should be able to get advice from a teacher from one of the disciplines listed below and if you are a member of a club, for example a bowls or bridge club, it is a good idea to get one of these people along on a regular basis to give advice and encouragement.
Suppleness is the ability to move the muscles and joints of the body easily and fully. It is one of the four key aspects of fitness, the other three being strength, stamina and skill.
Suppleness could also be defined as flexibility and is assessed by seeing how easy people move and in particular how much they can move their joints. It is often helpful to think of stiffness as well as suppleness because stiffness is the other side of the coin. As people lose suppleness they become stiffer and the usual reason for this is that what are called the connecting tissues become less elastic.
Get a hold of a leg of lamb or a chicken leg. A leg of lamb is best if you are not a vegetarian. What you see in a leg of lamb is a bright red muscle but surrounding that muscle is a thick and tough but flexible coating of connecting tissue.
Also running through the muscle you can see white tissue subdividing the muscle into different compartments. This is all connective tissue. Furthermore the tendons which join the muscle to the bone and the ligaments, thick tissue that links one bone to another on either side of the joint, are also made of connective tissue. In young people this connective tissue is more elastic and there is no doubt that the normal biological of ageing process reduces the elasticity of connective tissue, that why is mutton is tougher than lamb.
However, the loss of elasticity results not only from ageing but from loss of fitness.
People who have kept supple, for example by practicing yoga all their life, do not experience this loss of suppleness and stiffness.
There are some diseases that affect connective tissue but the main cause of loss of suppleness is inactivity.
Why is suppleness important?
Much of the emphasis on training in the past has been on strength and stamina but, increasingly, professionals know that suppleness is at least as important, not only for professional sportsmen but also for every individual who wishes to stay independent and feel and function well.
Loss of suppleness means an inability to do certain everyday tasks such as putting on a pair of socks, and loss of suppleness can therefore be one of the key factors increasing dependency and leading to disability and the need for care.
Fortunately we now know that suppleness can be improved at any age even if an individual has developed a disease such as Parkinson’s disease or arthritis which reduces suppleness as part of its effects.
What can you do?
The most important step is to recognise that stiffness is not an inevitable consequence of ageing. Stiffness often increases as we live longer but that is principally because we live longer sitting immobile. People who have started yoga or tai chi in their twenties and kept it going are usually remarkably supple, even able to do the splits. Of course if a disease comes along that impairs ability, rheumatoid arthritis for example or Parkinson’s disease, then suppleness is limited but, as always, people who have a disease that can increase the risk of stiffness, often have an additional complication - loss of fitness. It is even more important for people with diseases that limit mobility to do activities to maintain and improve suppleness than people who do not have such a disease.
The core exercise programme should be at least ten minutes a day focused on strength, skill and suppleness. Of these three to five minutes should be spent on suppleness but this should increase every decade. It would not be an unreasonable for people in their eighties and nineties to be spending ten minutes a day on suppleness. You should be able to get advice from a teacher from one of the disciplines listed below and if you are a member of a club, for example a bowls or bridge club, it is a good idea to get one of these people along on a regular basis to give advice and encouragement.