Flexibility Score Calculator
Assess flexibility using the sit-and-reach test.
Enter your reach distance for a rating and comparison to age and gender norms from excellent to poor.
The sit-and-reach test is the most common way to measure hamstring and lower back flexibility.
How to do the test:
- Warm up first. Five minutes of walking, then a few gentle leg swings. Testing cold gives a worse score and risks a strain.
- Sit on the floor with legs straight and the soles of your feet flat against a box or a wall.
- Lay a ruler or yardstick along your legs so the 15-inch (38 cm) mark sits level with your heels.
- Reach forward slowly, one hand over the other, and hold the furthest point for two seconds. No bouncing, and no bent knees.
- Note the reading at your fingertips, then subtract 15 inches (38 cm).
That last step is the one people skip. The tables below are scored relative to your toes, so a reading of 19 inches on the ruler is +4, and a reading of 12 inches is −3. Type the subtracted figure into the box, not the raw ruler reading. If you are measuring without a ruler at all, just estimate how far past or short of your toes your fingertips land.
Take the best of three attempts. Flexibility varies more within one person than most people expect: you will usually read 1 to 2 inches better in the evening than first thing in the morning, and better after a hot shower than before one.
Ratings for Men (inches past toes, where toes = 0):
| Rating | Age 20–29 | Age 30–39 | Age 40–49 | Age 50–59 | Age 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | > 7 | > 6 | > 5 | > 4 | > 3 |
| Good | 4–7 | 3–6 | 2–5 | 1–4 | 0–3 |
| Average | 0–3 | 0–2 | -1–1 | -2–0 | -3–0 |
| Below Average | < 0 | < 0 | < -1 | < -2 | < -3 |
Ratings for Women (inches past toes):
| Rating | Age 20–29 | Age 30–39 | Age 40–49 | Age 50–59 | Age 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | > 9 | > 8 | > 7 | > 6 | > 5 |
| Good | 6–9 | 5–8 | 4–7 | 3–6 | 2–5 |
| Average | 2–5 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | -1–1 |
| Below Average | < 2 | < 2 | < 1 | < 0 | < -1 |
Positive numbers mean past the toes. Negative means short of the toes.
What the score is actually measuring
Mostly hamstrings, partly lower back, and rather more shoulder and arm proportion than anyone likes to admit. Long arms relative to your torso will flatter you by an inch or two, short arms will punish you, and neither has anything to do with how tight your hamstrings are. That is the test’s known weakness, and it is why the sit-and-reach works far better as a personal baseline you retest every few weeks than as a way to compare yourself against your friend.
A below-average score is not an injury and not a verdict. It responds quickly: static hamstring and calf stretching, 30 seconds a side, four or five days a week, moves most people up a full rating band inside six to eight weeks. Progress then slows sharply, so if the number stops moving after a couple of months, that is normal rather than a sign you are doing it wrong.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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