Mobility, Flexibility, and Range of Motion: From Mechanisms to Sports and Health Practice
A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 13
Editor
Interests: exercise physiology; muscle and tendon flexibility; stretching; joint flexibility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Joint mobility, flexibility, and range of motion are important considerations in sports performance, exercise science, physical rehabilitation, and daily functional capacity. Stretching has traditionally been used to improve flexibility; however, changes in range of motion are influenced by a wide range of factors. These include not only stretching interventions but also resistance training, warm-up and recovery strategies, muscle–tendon mechanical properties, stretch tolerance, pain perception, neuromuscular responses, training background, age, sex, and sport-specific demands.
This Special Issue invites original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative reviews, and brief reports addressing factors and adaptations related to mobility, flexibility, and range of motion. Submissions examining acute or chronic changes, physiological, biomechanical, neural, and perceptual mechanisms, assessment methods, and practical applications in athletic, clinical, educational, and health promotion settings are welcome.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Acute and chronic effects of stretching, mobility drills, resistance training, warm-up, and recovery interventions on joint range of motion;
- Mechanisms underlying changes in flexibility, including stretch tolerance, passive stiffness, muscle–tendon behavior, neuromuscular activity, and pain perception;
- Relationships between flexibility, mobility, athletic performance, injury risk, movement quality, and physical function;
- Sport-specific and population-specific approaches to mobility and flexibility training, including studies in youth, older adults, athletes, recreationally active individuals, and clinical populations;
- Factors modulating flexibility adaptations, such as age, sex, training status, and individual characteristics;
- Laboratory- and field-based methods for assessing range of motion, passive torque, muscle–tendon stiffness, and functional movement;
- Practical applications of flexibility and mobility training in competitive sports, physical therapy, physical education, and public health.
This Special Issue aims to encourage studies that connect mechanisms, assessment methods, and practical approaches to mobility and flexibility in sports, exercise, rehabilitation, and health-related settings.
Dr. Takamasa Mizuno
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sports is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.
Keywords
- mobility
- flexibility
- range of motion
- stretching
- muscle–tendon stiffness
- stretch tolerance
- passive torque
- neuromuscular response
- athletic performance
- rehabilitation
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