Flexibility Enhancing Methods: From Current Knowledge to Future Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

Flexibility refers to the capacity of a joint or series of joints to move without any restriction or pain across its range of motion. The development of flexibility plays a significant role not only in physical performance but also in the improvement of overall musculoskeletal health. 

Traditionally, stretching (static, dynamic, and propriocep-tive neuromuscular facilitation) has been the main method to increase flexibility. While it is still used, also foam rolling has become a popular technique. The present research clearly supports these as flexibility enhancing methods able to modulate stiffness of a targeted tissue, aid as warm-up techniques, and modulate pain perception due to the activation of mechanoreceptors and the central nervous system pathways. Moreover, flexibility inter-ventions can influence autonomic nervous system balance, promoting parasympathetic activity, thus it may result in an increase in parasympathetic activity. 

Emerging research also explores benefits for pathological populations, including those with chronic pain, neurological disorders, and metabolic conditions. Additionally, vascular im-provements and remote myofascial effects suggest systemic adaptations beyond localized tissue responses. Long-term changes in connective tissue properties are becoming central to understanding how flexibility im-proves function and resilience. Future orientations imply the inclusion of these techniques within multimodal approaches, which are designed to fit the individual needs and technologically supported, mainly focusing on both performance improvement and therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Ewan Thomas
Dr. Konstantin Warneke
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• flexibility
• stretching
• foam rolling
• pain
• stiffness
• prevention