A GOOD DEAL of my physio work is dealing with sports men and women.

It covers the whole spectrum of levels of participation; from recreational footballers, occasional rugby players right up to elite and international athletes.

As part of my assessments I ask lots of questions. I want to know absolutely everything on how they got injured, how they sleep, how they train, how they think they move, which side do they sleep on, do they stretch and work on joint mobility and so on.

No stone is left unturned and this is before I even watch them move or do a physical examination. It helps me develop the assessment I want to carry out. It also quite often informs me of some of the findings I will discover when I do my physical assessment.

Ninety-nine times out 100 I can almost guarantee that the patient doesn’t stretch or work on mobilisation. And at least one patient a week is presenting with symptoms that are as a direct result if this.

This doesn’t just apply to high-end sports people though, it is equally true across that population. We don’t move enough and this includes working on our flexibility and mobility.

So what can be the effects of not working on flexibility and mobility?

Well, each of our joints is designed to move in certain directions and have a certain range. If, however, we don’t work through this range and in all directions, the joint starts to stiffen up.

In simple terms all the soft tissue structures around the joint – muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia etc – start to contract and then when you do try to move them through their full range they either won’t or it hurts. Or even worse, both.

Our modern lifestyles don’t help. As I’ve said before, most of you reading this probably sit at a desk all day at work.

This doesn’t help your flexibility and mobility as your muscles aren’t really doing much all day and quite a lot of them are scrunched up. How many of you get up from your desk and have lower back pain?

Quite often that’s due to tight and stiff muscles.

So what’s the solution? Well, I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear me say get active. Get moving more. This alone will help if you’re suffering from any stiff or tight joints and muscles.

If you need more assistance try a Yoga or Pilates class. If you are taking part in regular sport, especially at any representative level, you really should be putting a stretching and mobility session into your programme every week.

If you have a coach they should likely be doing this anyway, but if not , then seek the help of a professional: a physio or good conditioning coach will be able to help you.

The advantage of improving your flexibility and mobility? Less pain, better movement and less time on the treatment table.

• Visit keighleynews.co.uk and click on What’s On then Out & About to see Matthew McArdle’s previous Fighting Fit columns.