The Best Way To Get Flexible, By Science

Liv Townsend, of Livinleggings fame, comes bearing research papers:

Little and often

Science was done (references in the video), and found:

• Stretching for 5 minutes or less total across the week? Not great results.
• Stretching for between 5 and 10 minutes? Much better.
• Stretching for more than 10 minutes? Little to no extra benefit.

So, 5–10 minutes per week? That sounds easy. Shall we do it all on a Monday morning and get it over with?

Nope, because the science also found:

• Stretching six days a week gave the absolute best results.
• Stretching three times per week also gave improvements.
• Stretching once per week gave no significant improvements.

So, spread out over several days per week, if not every day, seems ideal. Now, how long to spend per stretch? Research is consistent on this:

• 30 seconds per stretch (holding the stretch) is the sweet spot.
• 30 seconds is better than 15 seconds.
• 60 seconds brings no extra benefit over 30 seconds, so don’t waste your time!*

*Unless you want to, of course. Time you enjoyed wasting was not time wasted 🙂

Now, will science tell us how many sets to do? Yes it will:

• Doing two to four sets of each stretch produces the best gains.
• After that, doing more sets doesn’t give extra flexibility.

Example: Stretching Your Hamstrings

Here’s how it would look:

1. Hold a hamstring stretch for 30 seconds.
2. Rest (or switch to the other leg).
3. Repeat for three sets each side.

This takes about three minutes total. Do this three times per week, and you’ve only spent nine minutes, yet you’ll see big flexibility gains!

For more on all of this (including the actual study references), plus visual demonstrations of some other stretches for a more comprehensive stretching routine, enjoy:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Want to learn more?

You might also like:

Yoga Teacher: “If I wanted to get flexible (from scratch) in 2025, here’s what I’d do”

Take care!