Are Women More Flexible Than Men?

Yes, on average, women tend to be more flexible than men, but the difference depends on the body area being tested and does not predict any one person’s mobility. In a 2025 dataset of 27,686 GOWOD Mobility Test users, women averaged a 65% overall mobility score and men averaged 60%. Those are app-assessment averages, not a rule that every woman is more flexible than every man.

Individual anatomy, activity history, age, strength training, injuries, and practice matter at least as much as a broad sex-based average.

What the Average Difference Means

Flexibility is the ability to move a joint or muscle through a range of motion. Mobility is broader: it includes whether you can control that range with strength and coordination.

Someone may be able to pull a leg high with their hands but not lift it as high on their own. That person has more passive flexibility than active mobility. Both can matter, depending on whether your goal is a comfortable squat, reaching overhead, yoga, dance, lifting, or simply moving more freely day to day.

How the Mobility Data Should Be Read

The GOWOD figures come from people who chose to complete an app-based mobility test between March and October 2025. They are useful for spotting an average pattern, but they are not a random sample of all women and men.

A score in that system is not a joint-angle measurement. It is the app’s assessment score for selected movement categories; in that framework, 100% represents full range of motion from a physiology standpoint.

The sex difference is an average pattern, not a limit on any person’s mobility.

Sitting for much of the day or avoiding certain movements may limit range in particular joints.

Which Areas Show the Biggest Differences

The overall average does not mean women scored higher in every area. In the same app dataset:

• Shoulder mobility averaged 71% for women and 65% for men.
• Overhead mobility averaged 65% for women and 61% for men.
• Thoracic, or upper-back, mobility averaged 71% for women and 62% for men.
• Postchain mobility, primarily the hamstrings and posterior chain, showed the largest listed gap: 60% for women and 42% for men.
• Hip mobility was closer: 54% for women and 47% for men.
• Ankles were the exception, with men averaging 78% and women averaging 76%.

The pattern varies by body area, with ankles as the exception.

How Age Changes the Pattern

Mobility tended to decline across the app’s age groups for both women and men. Among users ages 18–33, women averaged 71% and men averaged 64%; among ages 34–45, the averages were 67% and 61%.

For users ages 56–65, women averaged 60% and men 55%. The figures compare age groups rather than tracking changes over time. Staying active and practicing the movements you want to keep can support them over time.

Why Women Often Score Higher on Flexibility

There is no single explanation. Flexibility comes from a mix of joint shape, connective tissue, muscle size and tension, nervous-system tolerance for stretching, and the movements someone does regularly.

On average, women and men have anatomical and body-composition differences that can affect how certain movements feel. Pelvic shape, muscle bulk, and connective-tissue characteristics may all influence range of motion in some areas.

Lifestyle matters, too. Regular participation in activities that use large ranges of motion, such as dance, yoga, martial arts, gymnastics, or controlled full-range strength training, usually builds more usable flexibility.

Hormones are often given as a simple explanation, especially estrogen. The reality is more nuanced. Hormones interact with connective tissue, and regular movement practice remains important.

How to Improve Your Own Flexibility

The useful question is whether you can move comfortably and with control in the ways your life and favorite activities require.

Step 1: Choose One Movement Goal and Record a Baseline

1. Pick a movement that matters to you: reaching a high shelf, squatting comfortably, touching your toes, sitting cross-legged, lifting your arms overhead, or improving a yoga pose.
2. Test one movement at a time under repeatable conditions. Wear similar shoes or go barefoot each time, use the same starting position, and avoid comparing a cold-day attempt with a post-workout attempt.
3. Record what you can do comfortably and how the movement feels. For example, note whether your heels stay down in a squat or whether your ribs flare when you raise your arms overhead.

I use a flexible measuring tape to record a repeatable reach rather than relying on memory.

A baseline keeps the focus on your own progress and goals.

Step 2: Practice Controlled Range Instead of Forcing a Stretch

1. Begin with easy whole-body movement so your body feels warm: a walk, gentle marching, arm circles, bodyweight squats, or slow hip circles all work.
2. Move slowly through the range you already have. Use controlled repetitions first, then pause in a comfortable stretched position while breathing normally.
3. Avoid bouncing, yanking on a joint, or treating pain as a sign of progress. Stretching should feel like manageable tension, not a sharp, pinching, or unstable sensation.
4. Finish by standing, walking, or moving normally for a moment and notice whether the area feels easier to use.

This approach builds familiarity with the movement.

Step 3: Add Strength Where You Want More Usable Mobility

1. Pair flexibility work with simple strength in the range you are trying to improve. For example, use controlled bodyweight squats for hips and ankles, slow rows for upper-back movement, or supported split-stance work for hip control.
2. Keep the movement smooth and within a range you can control. A larger range is not automatically better if you cannot stabilize it.
3. Retest your original movement under the same conditions you used for your baseline. Keep what improves comfort and control, and skip drills that leave you feeling worse.

Repeated pain, instability, or unusual restriction can call for a different movement approach. Individual guidance can help you choose a more appropriate way to move.

Lower-Back Movement and Pregnancy

Women’s lower spines do have some average structural differences related to pregnancy. Harvard-led research found that the female lumbar curve typically spans three vertebrae, compared with two in males, a pattern that can allow more lower-back extension as the center of gravity shifts during pregnancy.

That finding is specific to the lower back and pregnancy-related loading.

Pregnancy can also change comfort, balance, and movement preferences. The practical goal is not to create more lower-back arch, but to choose positions and activities that feel stable and comfortable for your own body.

How to Compare Flexibility Fairly

Use this short check before deciding that you are “tight” or that someone else is “naturally flexible”:

• Compare the same movement, not unrelated poses.
• Separate passive range from active control.
• Notice which joint is limiting the movement; a forward fold can involve hamstrings, hips, spine, balance, and comfort with stretching.
• Compare your current range with your own baseline first.
• Consider how your activity history affects the movement.
• Treat flexibility as one part of movement, alongside strength, balance, and coordination.

You do not need the splits, a deep backbend, or extreme joint range to be healthy, athletic, feminine, or attractive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are women’s hips more flexible than men?

Women often have somewhat greater hip mobility on average, but the difference is not universal. In the GOWOD Mobility Test dataset, women averaged 54% for hip mobility and men averaged 47%, yet hips were women’s lowest-scoring area in that assessment. Hip shape, muscle tension, activity history, and the specific movement being tested all matter.

Why are women often better at doing the splits?

Women may be more likely to have the combination of hip range, hamstring length tolerance, and training history that helps with splits. But splits are not determined by sex alone; they also require practice, pelvic positioning, hip-flexor mobility, and strength to control the position. Plenty of men can achieve splits, and plenty of women cannot or do not want to.

Can men become as flexible as women?

Yes, many men can become more flexible than the female average in movements they practice consistently. A man’s starting point, anatomy, past injuries, sport, and training style matter more than a group average. Focus on a specific goal, use controlled range, and build strength in that range.

Does the menstrual cycle make women more flexible?

Not reliably in a way that lets someone predict their hamstring flexibility from cycle phase alone. In a study of 16 healthy women, passive knee extension, a test used to assess hamstring flexibility, did not differ significantly between the menstrual and ovulatory phases, as reported in this peer-reviewed study. Day-to-day sleep, stress, activity, and warm-up can also change how a stretch feels.

Does country or culture determine which women are the most flexible?

No country can be ranked as having inherently more flexible women or men. Cultural differences may influence which activities people try, such as dance, sports, floor sitting, yoga, or manual work, but they do not create a fixed national level of flexibility. Individual movement habits remain more useful than stereotypes.

Do men prefer women who are flexible?

There is no universal preference, and flexibility is not something you owe anyone. Being flexible can be enjoyable or useful if it supports activities you like, but it does not determine attractiveness, relationship quality, or femininity. Choose movement goals that make your own everyday life feel better.