An inflexible reader of the Boston Globe has a question about loosening up. How much, the reader asks, can a person expect to improve (increase) flexibility? The answer, according to Dr. Paul Weitzel, a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at New England
Baptist Hospital, is 20 to 25 percent. Weitzel advises stretching three or four times a week, and taking care not to overdue it. The Globe piece suggests that we avoid bouncing motions and strive for balance between different body
parts, and make sure that we stretch both sides of the body,
such as the quads with the hamstrings, and the back with the abdomen.Read more in the Boston Globe.
Watch a slide show from the Mayo Clinic on how to stretch major muscle groups.