If you’re double jointed, go easy on the exercise

When people say that they are double jointed it means that they are hypermobile. (A quick test is to gently stretch your thumb back so it touches your wrist. If you can do it without any discomfort, then you are at some level hypermobile.)

There are varying levels of hypermobility, but ultimately it is due to high elasticity in the muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding a joint, allowing for excessive movement in that particular joint.

We naturally drift towards activities that we're good at, especially when it comes to exercise and sports. No surprise that hypermobile people tend to enjoy exercises that promote flexibility such as yoga or dance. In some cases, that flexibility can actually lead to injury.

There are different styles of yoga but the general principle is to improve balance and flexibility through static holds and stretches. If you suffer from mild to severe forms of hypermobility, these poses and stretches could cause injury because you're taking your joints to their end of range and, in some cases, beyond.

And that's not good. Not only are you reinforcing the body's hypermobility, but you're also increasing the risk of resulting injury. That's because people who are hypermobile also tend to have a problem with proprioception — ie when you're holding stretches or generally exercising, you can't tell or feel where your limbs or joints are in relation to each other once you have taken your eyes off them. This can lead to injuries such as dislocation, joint pain, sprains, tendonitis, prolapsed discs or bursitis.

There's also a view that hyper-mobility can lead to osteoarthritis. When overstretching results in bone-to-bone contact (in normal stretching ranges it's muscle-to-muscle), it could potentially exacerbate the onset of the condition.

If you have hypermobile joints — or you've just passed my patent thumb-to-wrist test — it's not necessarily a problem but I would advise you to see a health professional such as a physio, sports therapist or a doctor for advice on the kind of exercise that will be best for you.

David Higgins is co-founder of TenPilates (tenpilates.com)