As children we were taught to sit up straight and somewhere along the line we learned that flexibility was important too, but why?  The bottom line is movement.  Whenever a joint is restricted from a full range of motion it initiates a chain-reaction of compensation both above and below the `rusty` joint.  When our joints become restricted, and our movement patterns altered we predispose ourselves to injury.  As soon as we attempt to load a dysfunctional movement, forces transferred through restricted joints result in micro-traumas to surrounding cartilage and or surrounding connective and soft tissues – scientific ramble for why your inability to touch your toes translates to that nagging lower back pain that causes the under-rotation in your golf-swing or that ‘stiff’ shoulder that wakes you up in the middle of the night or maybe it’s that ‘weak’ knee that prevents you from jogging the seawall with your dog in the summer.