Note: This is a loose transcription of the video: ‘The 9 Point Flexibility Test’ .
Hey guys, Brad from Primal Health here.
Today I am going to teach you a little bit more about flexibility, systemic flexibility, which basically means flexibility throughout your whole body. We’ve all got varying degrees of flexibility. I want to show you a quick test that I do with all of my clients to be able to ascertain how hard I should push them with exercise and how much I should allow them to stretch. So, basically this is called the ‘9 Point Flexibility Index. It has been put together by a person named Dr. Mariano Rocabado.
1/ With your wrists and fingers facing straight up, pull your little finger back as far as possible. If it makes a 90 degree angle to the top of your hand when pulled back, score one point for each little finger.
(2 points possible)
2/ Hold your hand with your wrist at 90 degrees. Push your thumb towards your wrist. If you can touch your wrist with the thumb of the same side, you score a point for each thumb.
(2 points possible)
3/ Straighten your arms so your hands are level with your shoulders. If your wrist drops below the level of your elbow, then you score a point for each arm.
(2 points possible)
4/ Whilst standing, straighten your legs as far as possible. When looking from the side, if the middle of your knee joint sits behind the bony part of the side of your ankle, give yourself a point for each leg.
(2 points possible)
5/ Finally while standing, if you can put your palms on the floor with your legs held straight, you score an additional point.
(1 point possible)
So tally up all your points. As you can see with me, I have two points out of nine, which is actually the average!
So what does that mean?
0-2 = You need to stretch a lot more. Make stretching an important part of your exercise routine, and also between workout sessions.
3-5 = You need to do combination of strengthening and stretching.
6-9 = Don’t overstretch yourself all the time. If you constantly do yoga and don’t do any stability and strength work, you’re as likely to injure yourself as much as the tighter person with a 0-2 score.
Your score will give you more of an idea about how you should program the type of movement you do throughout your week.
What was your score?
The 9 Point Flexibility Test – February 2016
