flexibility & stretching

Post Reply New Topic

hey folks,

just because im occupied with the subject matter right now:
how are you on the flexibility scale? do you do something to improve it (i.e.: do you do stretching)? if so, what kind of, and what body areas do you focus on?

i myself am in a funny situation. in general, i seem to have got quite good genes for flexibility from my mothers side. she reached the most awkward positions within a few weeks of a few minutes daily exercise.
but, as i tend to walk a lot, and at quite a fast pace, my hamstrings have been trained quite intensely for years, without any stretching exercise. basically, i was happy when i could, under pain, reach the floor with my hands while standing. upper body flexibility is quite good: i have no problems shaking my hands behind my back, one hand coming from above, one from below.
so, i stretch my lower body mainly, hamstrings and groin, throwing some hip flexor in every once in a while. it also helps me in muay thai, as i have less problems kicking above waist level.
my method of choice is pnf stretching and i am glad to have seen some benefits, even from irregular exercise. warmed up, i can touch my palms to the floor now without pain. at the moment, im stretching every evening for a bit, will be interesting to see where this leads me. maybe ill be able to do full splits one day at last.

Im very flexible. I am now taking Shodokan Karate, and I was in Taekwondo for 6 years. I can do the splits both ways and get into contortionists positions like the human pretzel...lol

I have appauling flexibility in a lot of areas, which im trying to solve, i have stretching routines- aimed at rehabilitating me out of RSI and back into weight-training - but im always forgetting to do them. Avoiding dehydration is a must for anyone seeking to increase their range of motion.

The stretching routines im doing now are aimed at loosening fascial adhesions, with particular attention to freeing vulnerable nerves that are getting snagged.

If anyones got RSI, pm me with an email and ill send you the stretching routine.

I'm in a similar position to you gekitsu.
I ran marathons for a few years and was stupid enough to do no stretching which completely crippled my flexibility. My flexibility is coming back slowly with the kickboxing I do but i'm still nowhere near doing the splits yet.
I can also do the same with my arms behind my back, one over one under. The difference being that I can not only shake hands but i can press wrist against wrist. From what i've read up it's possible I have hypermobile shoulders as my shoulders tend to semi-dislocate (difficult to describe very well, but it's not a proper discolation, just close!) lots of times every day.
One of my goals is to be able to do the splits, though I figure that it will take a few years to do due to my neglect for stretching for many years.
Anyway, good luck with your goals, i'm sure you'll achieve them with perseverance, patience, and a bit of time.

myles: i hear taekwondo is very focussed on flexibility for all those fancy kick techniques.

psych: dehydration is an interesting issue...

englishwolf: yeah, it definitely pays off... it only took me a few weeks, 3 or so, to go from not being able to come near the floor with the hands to palms on floor. right now, my right knee makes strange noises when i bend it and have weight on it. (me walking down the stairs: *thumb* *scritch-thumb* *thumb* *scritch-thumb*...) i did some stretches that can be heavy on the knees and didnt drink much for a few weeks (i always start doing silly stuff like that when under stress)... so maybe itll just come back together. i will put the heavy strain off the knee for now, though.

I can't even bend either wrist forward 90º! I do, however, have thumb tips which bend backwards almost 90º. I've never been able to touch my toes without bending my knees, even through childhood, when we daily did this stretch in gym class for years. Right now, the closest I can get is 4 inches from fingertips to toes (granted, I haven't tried this exercise in 10 years), and it's pretty much always been that way -- about two inches closer in my childhood. Behind my back, I can completely overlap two fingers of one hand with two fingers of the other, but palms don't even get close. Also, when I used to play the viola, the hand on the fingerboard soon began to tingle uncomfortably, simply because my arm has to twist in that odd way it must when playing viola or violin. I was told by an instructor that, if I had played viola or violin as a child, this tingling probably wouldn't occur. (I started learning the instrument when I was almost 20.)

I also often get a weird tingling simply after stretching, or even after lifting weights -- as if circulation was temporarily cut off.

your instructor could have been right, ragtime. flexibility issues dont seem to be related to some muscles or tendons being too short but rather a contract reflex that is triggered when motion exceeds a certain comfort zone. i remember stretching sessions to be painful in an unhealthy-feeling way when they were forced upon me (like in p.e. or similar) - only when i began reading up on mechanics and methods, the pain started shifting in quality. you being hooked in workout right now, sure know what i mean with this difference.

what i found useful in general is this:
stretch a certain muscle until a solid pull in the belly of the muscle is felt (not at tendons or similar) - flex the stretched muscle (willfully contract nearby muscles helps boosting tension) until i notice the muscle tiring - release tension, go limp, fall deeper into the stretch and carefully pull myself deeper with the antagonist of the stretched muscle.

for stretching hamstring muscles, i like pavel tsatsoulines "good mornings" stretch (because it looks similar to the weightlifting exercise called "good mornings"). its a bit hard to convey through words alone, but i will try: feet shoulder width apart, pointing forwards. knees slightly bent (knees locked will put excessive stress on the tendons in the back of the knee, not the muscles). keeping weight on the heels, the hamstrings are stretched by folding forward at the hip only (keep back straight - never rounded - and look straight ahead). i found it useful to imagine that i move my butt backwards instead of bending forward. hands should reach out to the front for balance.
tension is applied by trying to paw the ground with the feet (sliding feet backwards, like you imagine a cartoon buffalo before hes charging) forcefully squeezing the butt helps.
after releasing tension, i pull myself lower with my hip flexors.
also, its helpful to do this stretch alone, as it will make you look really silly.

by exhausting the muscle, you can gradually stretch further - as you are somehow overriding the comfort zone reflex.

Thanks for the tips. I might try that. I will give an update: I was stretching for leg exercises tonight, and I quickly got back to my fingertips being 2 inches away from my toes -- and it doesn't seem to be a real solid wall of resistance to soon get closer. So I'm confident. I didn't have the tollerance for pain as a child that I do now as an adult. So maybe I can increase my stretching range. And yes, it is the tendons behind the knees where I feel the pain -- nowhere else. I get to my toes eventually...

dont stretch the tendons. a ligament stretched by 6% tears - or so i read, so dont take this with too much authority behind it.
rather try stretching the muscle via slightly bent knees and test its flexibility by trying to touch the floor with locked knees. what use is it when you stress your hamstring tendons excessively and eventually touch the floor by overstretching your lower back?

oh, and since this kind of exhaust-then-stretch-frther thing messes with your proprioception, do it after workout for safety issues.


damn... that scritchy knee started to hurt when under heavy weight or hyperflexed. any stretching postponed and will have the doctor take a look at it asap. wah, i dont want my knee to be messed up

I can touch the ground with my fingertips with straight legs. Sometimes I can touch the ground with the second knuckles. Not flexible enough yet to touch the ground with the palms of my hands.

When making a golf back swing, I can turn the upper body 90 degrees, but my left arm doesn't remain straigh.

I am not flexible at all.
I can't touch my toes without bending my knees. When I sit on the ground and try and touch my toes I still bend my knees.
Basically I have never been flexible.

I'm another one with erratic flexibility - I have incredibly flexible wrists, arms & general upper body muscle, meaning that I'm nearly impossible to lock with conventiol martial techniques, which is very useful. On the other hand, while I can bend enough to touch my palms to the floor, my legs can only get to about a 50 degree angle at most, which isnt much when my goal is to be able to do the splits. It's enough to kick someone in the face though, when fully warmed up.

And gekitsu is right - tendons are not designed to stretch, and there are no advantages to stretching them. There are plenty of disadvantages, though. The same is true of the spine, though many yoga instructors will say otherwise. (I still love Yoga, though.)

I am known for my double-jointedness.

Tim

My flexibility is pretty good, I can go into all sorts of weird positions and maintain them for over 40 min. even the splits

i've been working on my flexibility a lot this year because i'm not happy with where it's at. i hold each stretch for about a minute and i've moved from being able to touch the floor with my first knuckle to being able to easily touch it with my palms in about 4 or 5 months. i used to be really flexible back in grade 6-7 because i was in jiu jitsu and had to stretch a lot. i was able to jump into the splits and everything. now i can't go down very far, although it's still farther than most of my friends.

I am horrible un-flexible. Especially my spine, I can't arch my back very far. Even as a child taking gymnastics, I couldn't even do splits.
I curl into a ball very well, it's bending in the other direction that gets me. Can't even lay on my stomach comfortably.