FLEXITEST History of the Method: l 1980  initial proposal based on studies with elementary school children and young swimmers [Pável & Araújo] l  standardization studies l 1986  evaluation charts reviewed [Araújo] l 1987  incorporation of methodological and statistical analysis issues l 1988  application in the Brazilian Olympic team (Seul Games) l 1991  first normative values for children [Farinatti] l 1987-now  routine use in clinical and sports evaluations l 1998  age- and gender-specific percentiles l 2000  sport-specific profiles l 2001  proposal of five variability indexes

FLEXITEST Brief Methodological Description: l passive evaluation of flexibility l 20 body movements at right side of the body l all movements scored similarly from 0 to 4 l Overall flexibility score - Flexindex - obtained by summing up individual movement scores l high reliability: ICC over.86 for expert raters l no time consuming: < 5 minutes to perform

FLEXITEST It provides: 20 individual movement scores 7 individual joint scores inter-movements and inter-joints variability indexes global index of body flexibility - FLEXINDEX age- and gender-reference percentiles data

FLEXITEST It permits: individual movement analysis and interpretation individual joint analysis and interpretation analysis of inter-movements and inter-joints variability global picture of body flexibility longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons

FLEXITEST Clinical Applications: age and gender reference percentiles data for non-athletic individuals identification of hypo- and hypermobility cases subsides stretching exercises prescription evaluation of intervention results

FLEXITEST Sport Applications: gender- and sport-specific reference profiles identification of hypo- and hypermobility cases subsides stretching exercises prescription pre-participation assessment sport talent detection evaluation of training and detraining results