Stretching and mobility differ, and strength training can improve both

Key takeaways

• Passive range is how far a joint goes when something else moves it, and active range is how far your own muscles can take it; mobility training aims at the second.
• In a 2021 review of 11 small randomized trials, strength training and stretching improved range of motion by similar amounts, for active and passive range alike¹.
• A 2025 review of 36 studies found resistance training gave a medium-sized flexibility gain, with harder training doing better than light².
• Rolling a calf on a foam roller for 90 seconds or more raised ankle range right away, but the gain was gone within 30 minutes⁴.
• We found one registered trial of a branded mobility system and no published results, so slow joint circles make a fine warm-up but remain unproven⁸.

Thirty-nine dance students set out to get more flexible. For six weeks, five days a week, they trained in one of three ways¹.

One group did body-weight strength exercises in the final 10 degrees of each movement’s range. A second did gentle stretches held in place by their own muscles. The third did harder passive stretches, where an outside force pushes you deeper¹.

First the researchers checked passive range, how far each dancer’s joints could be moved. Every group had gained, and by roughly equal amounts¹.

When the dancers had to move under their own power, the picture changed. The strength group and the gentle-stretch group had gained active range. The hard-stretch group had not¹.

That gap, between range you have and range you control, is the real difference between stretching and mobility. It was one small trial, summarized in a 2021 review, and it isn’t the final word. But it frames a question many people ask: should you stretch, do mobility drills or lift?

Passive range is what you have, and active range is what you can use

Range of motion is how far a joint moves. Passive range is how far it goes when something else moves it: your hands pulling a strap, a partner pressing, gravity in a deep stretch. Active range is how far your own muscles can take it.

You can feel the difference with a leg raise. Lying on your back, lift one straight leg as high as you can. Then loop a towel around your foot and ease it a little higher. The first height is active range; the second is passive.

Stretching mostly works by relaxing into a position and letting time and tolerance do the job. Mobility training, as coaches use the word, means moving through your range by your own strength, usually with some resistance near the end. Clinicians use “mobility” more broadly, for getting up, walking and carrying, and our mobility article covers that meaning.

Much of what changes in the short term is your nervous system’s tolerance for the pull. In a 2021 foam-rolling trial, gains in ankle range tracked with how much stretch people would accept, not with any change in muscle stiffness⁴. Our flexibility article covers the stretching research on this.

Strength training rivals stretching for flexibility

If active range is the goal, the obvious tool is strength training that takes joints toward their limits. Does lifting cost you flexibility? The trials say no.

In 2021, researchers writing in the journal Healthcare pooled 11 randomized trials with 452 people¹. Participants ranged from dancers, hurdlers and students to older adults and people with chronic neck pain or fibromyalgia¹.

The review found no significant difference between strength training and stretching for range of motion¹. That held for active and passive range alike, and across the joints studied¹. The trials were small and varied, though, and 6 of the 11 had a high risk of bias in how people were assigned to groups¹.

One more caveat: six of the trials didn’t report whether the strength work used a full or partial range¹. In the dancer trial, it deliberately used only the last 10 degrees¹. So the evidence backs strength training in general, not full-range lifting in particular.

A larger 2025 review in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research pooled 36 studies with 1,469 healthy adults, average age 46, in programs lasting about 11 weeks². Resistance training produced a medium-sized gain in flexibility, and high-intensity programs had a clearly larger effect than low-intensity ones². Age and activity level didn’t change the results².

Those authors, who received no funding for the work, rated none of the 36 studies at low risk of bias and said their results couldn’t be called definitive². They also advised against dropping stretching².

Our flexibility article covers a 2023 review of 55 studies that reached a similar conclusion.

Why would lifting improve range? The 2021 review pointed to longer bundles of muscle fibers after strength work, and noted that muscle weakness is linked to reduced range¹.

Frail older adults gained range from strength practice, not gentle stretching

The most striking trial in the 2021 review enrolled 161 older adults, average age about 82, and 124 finished¹. Each needed help with at least one daily task, such as bathing, using the toilet, walking or moving in and out of a bed or chair¹.

For 12 weeks, at three hour-long sessions a week, one group practiced resistance exercises built around rising from a bed and a chair. The rest did low-intensity dynamic stretching¹.

By the end, the strength group had improved on 8 of 10 range measures¹. The two holdouts were lifting the thigh forward and out to the side, known as hip flexion and abduction. The stretching group showed no significant change on any of them¹. U.S. federal and foundation grants supported the trial¹.

For someone who struggles to reach a shelf or stand up from the toilet, that is the range that counts. Practicing the task against resistance trains the range and the strength to use it at the same time. Our mobility article covers other trials of everyday-task training.

Foam rollers buy minutes of range, not months

A foam roller is a firm cylinder you lean your body weight onto and roll along a muscle. It’s cheap and popular, and its effects are real but small.

Thimo Wiewelhove and colleagues pooled 21 studies in 2019 and found that rolling before exercise improved flexibility by about 4% and sprint performance by less than 1%³. They called the effects minor and said the evidence backs rolling better before exercise than after it³. Our recovery article covers its small effect on soreness.

How long does the extra range last? In a 2021 trial funded by the Austrian Science Fund, 45 inactive adults rolled one calf for one, three or ten 30-second rounds⁴.

One round did nothing. Three or more raised ankle range right away, but within 30 minutes it was back to where it started⁴. Strength didn’t drop⁴.

Rolling and stretching don’t stack, either. A 2021 review of 12 studies found that doing both in one session gave no more range than either one alone⁵. As a warm-up for performance, rolling and stretching came out about even in a separate review of 13 studies¹⁰.

Massage guns loosened calves in two small studies of young men

A massage gun is a handheld device whose padded tip strikes a muscle in rapid bursts. Two small trials show what a single session can do.

In a 2020 trial at the University of Graz in Austria, 16 recreational male athletes had one calf treated for 5 minutes at 53 taps per second⁶. Their ankle range rose 5.4 degrees, about 18%⁶. When the same men simply sat for a similar time, range rose 1.6 degrees, a change that wasn’t statistically significant⁶. Calf strength held steady⁶.

A 2024 follow-up in 15 young men used just 2 minutes on the calf⁷. Range rose, the muscle became less stiff and strength didn’t change. A heated head added nothing⁷.

Both trials were paid for by public research funds, and the authors reported no conflicts of interest⁶⁷. But they tested one session in young, healthy men. Neither measured whether the gains last or add up over weeks⁶⁷. Our article on vibration plates and massage guns covers the wider research and the injuries that have been reported.

Joint circles and branded mobility systems are plausible but barely tested

Controlled articular rotations, or CARs, are a staple of online mobility routines. You move one joint, such as a hip or shoulder, through the biggest slow circle you can, while keeping the rest of your body still. CARs are part of Functional Range Conditioning, a named mobility method that one trial registration calls a new therapeutic technique⁸.

We looked for trials. The only one we found came from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov⁸. It enrolled 56 people with chronic low back pain and compared a Functional Range Conditioning hip routine, including CARs and long isometric holds, with stretching plus hip strengthening⁸. The main outcome was passive hip rotation after eight weeks⁸.

The registry record lists the study as completed in January 2019, the copy we read shows no results, and we didn’t find a published paper⁸. Until results appear, the honest rating is not enough evidence.

That doesn’t make CARs useless. Slow, pain-free joint circles are a gentle way to warm up. Their focus on controlling the end of your range also echoes the end-range strength work that helped active range in the dancer trial¹. Treat them as a warm-up, not a treatment.

Stretch, mobilize or strengthen? Match the tool to your goal

Use this table to pick a starting point. The goals and sample moves are our own; the doses come from the trials cited, or are marked as our suggestion.

Your goal	Best first choice	Sample move	Dose
Reach farther, as for dance, yoga or martial arts kicks	Stretching, plus active work at the new range1	A held hamstring stretch, then slow standing straight-leg lifts	In the dancer trial, 5 days a week for 6 weeks1
Lift, squat and reach overhead with control	Strength training through the range you can control12	A slow squat to a comfortable depth; an overhead press with light weights	2 or more days a week9; challenging loads did better2
Get up, bathe and reach more easily as an older adult	Task-based strength practice1	Sit-to-stand from a sturdy chair; step-ups at the bottom stair	3 sessions a week for 12 weeks, as in the trial1, ideally with a physical therapist
Loosen up right before activity	Foam rolling or short stretches, then movement345	Roll each calf for 3 rounds of 30 seconds4	Right before; expect the gain to fade within about 30 minutes4
Feel less stiff after sitting	Gentle joint circles and easy movement	Slow hip and shoulder circles, 5 each way	A minute or two, any time (our suggestion; evidence is thin)8
Recover from an injury or surgery	A physical therapist’s plan	Whatever your therapist prescribes	As prescribed

Bodies build the range they use

Many natural-health traditions teach that the body shapes itself to the way you live. The range research fits that idea: joints gain range where you train them, and in the dancer trial, strength work near the end of the range improved the range dancers could control on their own¹.

It also rewards the skepticism many readers bring to drug ads. The cheapest tool in this article, your own muscles working against resistance, has the most consistent support¹². The devices and branded systems sold for “mobility” have the thinnest evidence, or brief effects measured in small groups of healthy adults⁴⁶⁷⁸.

You don’t need special equipment. Federal guidelines, due for a new edition in 2028, ask adults to do muscle-strengthening work on 2 or more days a week⁹¹². Our suggestion: do those moves through the fullest range you can control. The trials don’t prove that range matters, but it’s a sensible way to get much of what stretching and mobility work promise.

What the evidence shows

Claim	Evidence level	What it rests on
Strength training improves flexibility	Strong evidence	Two meta-analyses, 36 and 11 studies, with consistent gains, though bias risk was high12
Strength training improves range about as much as stretching	Promising but early	11 small, varied trials with no significant difference; 6 at high risk of bias1
Harder strength training improves flexibility more than light training	Promising but early	One meta-regression2
Task-based strength practice improves range in frail older adults more than gentle stretching	Promising but early	One trial of 161 people1
End-range strength work builds active range better than intense passive stretching	Promising but early	One small trial in 35 dancers1
Foam rolling gives a small, immediate gain in range	Strong evidence	A meta-analysis of 21 studies; one trial found the gain gone within 30 minutes34
Rolling plus stretching beats either one alone for range	Evidence says no, or unsafe	Review of 12 single-session studies5
Massage guns briefly increase range without costing strength	Promising but early	Two small single-session trials in young men67
CARs or branded mobility systems improve pain or health	Not enough evidence	One registered trial with no results found8

Questions readers ask

The bottom line

Stretching and mobility work aim at different things. Stretching widens the range a joint can be moved into, while mobility is the range you can reach and control yourself. Strength training appears to improve range about as well as stretching does, and in one trial of frail older adults it outperformed gentle stretching.

Foam rollers and massage guns loosen you up for minutes, not months, and branded mobility systems haven’t yet published the trials to back their claims. Pick your tool by your goal: stretch for extra reach, lift through the range you can control, and save the gadgets for a warm-up.

Related reading

• Stretching improves flexibility, but most of its other famous promises didn’t hold up
• Mobility means getting up, reaching and carrying, so practice the real moves
• Most adults skip strength training, though under an hour a week goes a long way
• Vibration plates didn’t build bone in a year-long trial, though falls are another story
• A magnet can pause a defibrillator, so check these device warnings first

Sources

1. Afonso J, Ramirez-Campillo R, Moscão J, et al. “Strength Training versus Stretching for Improving Range of Motion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Healthcare, 2021;9(4):427 (University of Coimbra repository). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
2. Favro F, Roma E, Gobbo S, Bullo V, Di Blasio A, Cugusi L, Bergamin M. “The Influence of Resistance Training on Joint Flexibility in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Meta-regression.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2025;39(3):386-397 (University of Bologna repository). cris.unibo.it
3. Wiewelhove T, Döweling A, Schneider C, et al. “A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Foam Rolling on Performance and Recovery.” Frontiers in Physiology, 2019;10:376. public-pages-files-2025.frontiersin.org
4. Nakamura M, Onuma R, Kiyono R, et al., Konrad A. “The Acute and Prolonged Effects of Different Durations of Foam Rolling on Range of Motion, Muscle Stiffness, and Muscle Strength.” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2021;20:62-68. jssm.org
5. Konrad A, Nakamura M, Bernsteiner D, Tilp M. “The Accumulated Effects of Foam Rolling Combined with Stretching on Range of Motion and Physical Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2021;20:535-545. jssm.org
6. Konrad A, Glashüttner C, Reiner MM, Bernsteiner D, Tilp M. “The Acute Effects of a Percussive Massage Treatment with a Hypervolt Device on Plantar Flexor Muscles’ Range of Motion and Performance.” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2020;19(4):690-694. jssm.org
7. Nakamura M, Uchida H, Murakami Y, et al., Konrad A. “The Acute Effect of Percussive Massage Intervention with and without Heat Application on Plantar Flexor Muscles’ Passive and Active Properties.” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2024;23(1):73-78. jssm.org
8. King Saud University. “Effectiveness of ‘Functional Range Conditioning’ in Treating Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain.” ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03456050 (registry record as reproduced by ICH GCP), accessed October 2026. ichgcp.net
9. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition.” HHS, 2018. odphp.health.gov
10. Konrad A, Tilp M, Nakamura M. “A Comparison of the Effects of Foam Rolling and Stretching on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Frontiers in Physiology, September 30, 2021. frontiersin.org
11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Adults: Adding Activity Recommendations.” CDC, updated December 4, 2025. cdc.gov
12. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “Get Involved: Contribute to the Next Edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines.” HHS, posted October 28, 2024, updated May 29, 2026. odphp.health.gov