A question that I feel is important to ask yourself, for anyone involved with physical activity.
“The ability to perform explosive feats of strength, like lifting weights or jumping really high!” (Force Production/Force Development) is an answer I receive often in my classes and lectures.
But how about defining it in broader terms:
“The capacity to instantly adapt” and/or “The ability of the body to produce force to overcome a certain load” are both very good answers.
This begs the next question: When do we “instantly adapt” or “overcome loads”? Well, all the time, quite frankly.
From walking down stairs without falling, something many take for granted, but a strength-based skill that toddlers have yet to develop and that many older people forget to exercise, to slowly bringing your leg towards your face like a ballet dancer, which many people would classify as flexibility.
In both of these situation, and all in between, we overcome the load of gravity.
Why is this important?
It's important because it means that everything is a skill that one can train to get better at.
I have often met Crossfitters or climbers saying: “I'm not flexible enough for that” or dancers saying “I will never be strong enough for that!”
But of course not, you haven't trained it and as with everything, you start from the beginning. Redefining strength is also important because it means, that a given strength exercise, like front squats, might improve your ankle mobility more than any calf stretch you ever did.
I hope this will set some thoughts in motion.