How increasing your flexibility improves heart health

Research suggests there’s a link between your overall body flexibility and the flexibility of your arteries, the blood vessels that move blood from your heart to the rest of your body. Having supple arteries is important, particularly as you age, because it helps to move blood more effectively throughout your body. Plus, the more elastic those vessels are, the better they are able to maintain healthy blood pressure. Having stiff arteries, on the other hand, is a risk factor for heart disease and even death.

What the research shows

A small 2020 study published in The Journal of Physiology looked at stretching exercises and their effect on blood vessel function and the stiffness of arteries. Researchers examined 39 participants before and after a 12-week intervention of stretching training. The participants were split into three groups:

• One group stretched on both sides of the body.
• One group only stretched the right side.
• The last group did not stretch at all.

After 12 weeks, researchers found that blood vessel function had improved and the stiffness of arteries was reduced in the groups that stretched. Even arteries in other parts of the body that were not used in stretching exercises showed improvement.

A reduction in the stiffness of arteries may not be the only heart-healthy benefit of stretching, either. A study published in 2020 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that stretching exercises were linked to significant reduction in the stiffness of arteries, as well as:

• Reduced heart rate while at rest
• Lower diastolic blood pressure, when the heart is relaxing and filling up with blood between heartbeats
• Improvements in blood vessel function

So, stretching can help, but does body flexibility predict whether you have stiff arteries, and, in turn, a healthy heart? Some research suggests that it may do so.

In 2017, for example, a Japanese research team published a study in Frontiers in Physiology after measuring the link between body flexibility and the stiffness of arteries over a five-year span. They found poor flexibility was associated with stiffness of the aorta, the main artery that leads out of the heart. More research is needed, however, to confirm the connection.

Improve flexibility for your heart

While the underlying reasons aren’t yet fully clear, researchers suspect that being generally flexible contributes to the flexibility of your blood vessels. And while it’s premature to say that stretching regularly will help you avoid heart disease, it’s a good idea to add flexibility exercise to your overall approach to heart wellness. This approach should also include:

• Eating a high-fiber diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated fats, which are solid at room temperature
• Getting seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night
• Reducing stress levels as much as possible
• As you are able, aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week, like brisk walking or dancing

Exercising regularly can help delay some of the age-related changes that take place in blood vessels, including the stiffening of arteries—and now we know that flexibility has a role to play, too. So when you exercise, work in some flexibility exercises, such as yoga or regular stretching.

Meanwhile, if you want to measure your flexibility the way some of the researchers did, try the sit-and-reach test:

• Sit on the floor with your back supported by a wall, legs straight out in front of you, toes pointing up.
• Slowly reach forward from the hips, and without locking your knees by pushing them all the way back down, see how far you can extend your arms toward your toes.

Check in with this stretch every so often to see how flexible you can stay over the years.