How Your Flexibility and Balance Affects Your Health

Do you know how to bend and not break? The ability to bend without breaking is a powerful skill that is applicable to many areas of life. At the most basic physical level, being flexible may help you keep moving, avoid injury, and maintain your ability to perform the activities that you enjoy while supporting your health and wellness. When you practice activities that promote both flexibility and balance such as Pilates, yoga, dance, and stretching it can positively impact several areas of health. Did you know that research suggest that these types of activities can also help to improve your heart, brain and and mental health.(1-3) How do you know which one to choose? There are a range of movement and exercise programs may be appropriate for you depending on your medical situation, experience, personal preferences, and health goals. This post is all about how you might benefit from incorporating flexibility and balance training as a regular part of your routine.

Pilates and Stretching

Pilates is a mind-body practice that addresses flexibility and balance; helps to improve your posture, core and your overall mobility. These improvements may especially be impactful for those that suffer from chronic pain. A 2022 systematic review of seven studies that reviewed a total of 397 participants showed that when compared to other relevant exercises, Pilates was significantly effective at reducing back pain, neck pain, and pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knee and osteoporosis.(4) If you dig further in the literature in regards to chronic low back pain, a 2022 study of over 9,000 subjects found that while there are a variety of exercise that can be helpful to pain management, the most effective interventions for reducing pain were Pilates, mind-body, and core-based exercises.(5) How effective you ask? Pilates showed a 93% and 98% likelihood for reducing pain and disability associated with low back pain.(5)  That’s impressive!

In fact Pilates may an exercise that just keeps on giving. It has continued to be studied for a range of other health-related benefits. So far this practice appears to have great potential for improving balance and helping to reduce the risks of falls as we age.(6) A lot of people think that activities like Pilates are mainly suited for younger people but that data supports the fact that people of ALL age ranges can benefit. Pilates has most recently been highlighted for several other positive benefits, including the improvement of:

• Improving sleep quality in older adults.(7)

• Improving symptoms of depression symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis (8) and in older women.(3)

• Improving functional mobility and balance performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease.(9)

• Possibly improving blood vessel function and blood pressure in people who are at risk for high blood pressure (10-12)

Stretching Exercises

Even with all of this good data on Pilates I always say not everything is for everybody. Another way of looking at it is that you have to find the right type of movement that really resonates with you and that is going to different for every person because we are all different. Remember I always say treat yourself like a study where n=1 (otherwise said as don’t compare yourself to other people as you are unique!) So what if Pilates isn’t your thing? Even simple stretching will help to improve your health on a fundamental level! It sounds like such a small thing to do but it really is one of those things that if you can learn to incorporate it in a regular pattern then it could pay off big time for your health!

A 2020 study of over 200 participants suggested that muscle stretching exercises may have far deeper effects, in fact all the way down to your arteries and blood vessels by making them more pliable and improving their function.(13) Literally stretching your muscles liberates your body all the way down to the internal pipes of the system. We don’t exactly know yet how the simple act of stretching manages to have such profound effects but evidence suggests that it may involve increases in the sensitivity of the reflexes of your heart or the effects of relaxation. (14)

So take home point? When you stretch it really impacts your body on a way deeper level than you may have previously thought. I mean it makes a lot of sense really. Take a quick sec to think about how good it really would feel to just take some time to do some long, deep stretching before relaxing into bed at night? Doesn’t sound too hard as a habit right? Easier than taking pills and medications? Now you may be wondering how often you have to keep up this habit for it to be useful to your body. I’ve got your answer! The data supports starting a practice for at least four weeks but you may need to be consistent for up to 3 months, with as little as 15 minutes up to 60 minutes per stretching session, three to seven times per week.(13) That’s right people for the low cost investment of 15 minutes of stretching 3 times a week you are putting yourself on the road to happier and healthier heart health with even breaking a sweat!

What else can stretching exercises help with? A 2022 study that included 18 randomized controlled trials and over 1,000 subjects (n=1,184 subjects) with fibromyalgia they found that stretching exercises reduced pain perception and improve overall quality of life.(15) There is another chronic pain–related meta-analysis that evaluated the effectiveness of stretching exercises on reducing pain associated with knee osteoarthritis.(16) Eighteen randomized controlled trials (n=1,250 participants) were included in the analysis, and overall, per visual analogue scale measurements, stretching exercises significantly reduced osteoarthritis pain in patients.(16) So if you are someone who deals with chronic knee pain because of arthritis or someone who deals with chronic pain from fibromyalgia it would be worth your while to consider incorporating some stretching exercises into your daily routine.

Balance and Ballet

Both balance and flexibility may also improve when you rock out by dancing it out! Research studies suggest that different forms of aerobic dance benefit heart and brain health.(17,18) A 2020 study of 29 randomized controlled trials found that for older healthy adults, dance-based mind-motor activities were significantly associated with improved balance, mobility, and lower body strength.(19) Further, researchers found a statistically significant 37% reduction in your risk and rate of falling.(19) There’s something to be said for being able to keep balance people!

Beyond the scope of specific dance modalities, the health benefits of balance training and core conditioning can be extremely essential components of a comprehensive movement program. Dance is for everyone! A recent recent study that focused on primarily male Veterans showed that medication use was reduced by 33% for pain meds and found a 38% drop in the use of heart medication when they engaged in a program that included a personalized routine of aerobic, strength, balance, mind-body, and core support training.(22)

Conclusion

From a functional and integrative perspective the habits that you practice in your life are foundational in preventing and minimizing impact of chronic disease. It’s not always about getting a test or taking a supplement. As this post shows sometimes it’s about taking a little time to dance or taking a few minutes to add some long overdue stretches to your day. Stretch a little, dance a little, and take that yoga class your friend has been trying to drag you to….it really can make a different in your health in all the ways that matter the most.

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References

Thomas E, Bellafiore M, Gentile A, Paoli A, Palma A, Bianco A. Cardiovascular responses to muscle stretching: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Sports Med. 2021;42(6):481-493. doi:1055/a-1312-7131

Rodziewicz-Flis EA, Kawa M, Skrobot WR, et al. The positive impact of 12 weeks of dance and balance training on the circulating amyloid precursor protein and serotonin concentration as well as physical and cognitive abilities in elderly women. Exp Gerontol. 2022;162:111746. doi:1016/j.exger.2022.111746

Soori S, Heirani A, Rafie F. Effects of the aerobic and Pilates exercises on mental health in inactive older women. J Women Aging. 2022;34(4):429-437. doi:1080/08952841.2021.1924576

Denham-Jones L, Gaskell L, Spence N, Pigott T. A systematic review of the effectiveness of Pilates on pain, disability, physical function, and quality of life in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Musculoskeletal Care. 2022;20(1):10-30. doi:1002/msc.1563

Fernández-Rodríguez R, Álvarez-Bueno C, Cavero-Redondo I, et al. Best exercise options for reducing pain and disability in adults with chronic low back pain: Pilates, strength, core-based, and mind-body. A network meta-analysis. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2022;52(8):505-521. doi:2519/jospt.2022.10671

Donatoni da Silva L, Shiel A, McIntosh C. Effects of Pilates on the risk of falls, gait, balance and functional mobility in healthy older adults: a randomised controlled trial. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2022;30:30-41. doi:1016/j.jbmt.2022.02.020

Fank F, Pereira FDS, Dos Santos L, de Mello MT, Mazo GZ. Effects of exercise on sleep in older adults: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. J Aging Phys Act. 2022;30(6):1101-1117. doi:1123/japa.2021-0444

Kyriakatis GM, Besios T, Lykou PM. The effect of therapeutic exercise on depressive symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis – a systematic review. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2022;68:104407. doi:1016/j.msard.2022.104407

Mustafaoglu R, Ahmed I, Pang MYC. Which type of mind-body exercise is most effective in improving functional performance and quality of life in patients with Parkinson’s disease? A systematic review with network meta-analysis. Acta Neurol Belg. 2022;122(6):1433-1446. doi:1007/s13760-022-02070-4

Andrade IYTP, Melo KCB, Andrade KTP, Almeida LG, Moreira SR. Pilates training reduces blood pressure in older women with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2022;30:168-175. doi:1016/j.jbmt.2022.02.022

Rocha J, Cunha FA, Cordeiro R, Monteiro W, Pescatello LS, Farinatti P. Acute effect of a single session of Pilates on blood pressure and cardiac autonomic control in middle-aged adults with hypertension.J Strength Cond Res. 2020;34(1):114-123. doi:1519/JSC.0000000000003060

Wong A, Figueroa A, Fischer SM, Bagheri R, Park SY. The effects of mat Pilates training on vascular function and body fatness in obese young women with elevated blood pressure. Am J Hypertens. 2020;33(6):563-569. doi:1093/ajh/hpaa026

Kato M, Nihei Green F, Hotta K, et al. The efficacy of stretching exercises on arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older adults: a meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(16):5643. doi:3390/ijerph17165643

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