Improving flexibility?

[WhiteVandal]

Hey there, NF.

I can't touch my toes. I can see them. I wave at them. But I can't bend down touch em. So I wanted some NF community input on stretching. I know some about weightlifting and general fitness. But I know next to nothing about flexibility. I've heard static stretching doesn't work and you increase flexibility with activity that involves stretching yourself? I didn't understand this or know if it was true.

I know of yoga. I haven't done it and haven't researched it yet. I will, but I like crowdsourcing first. So what do you do to get/maintain flexibility? How quick/slow is progress?

[Sydnie]

It's a quick/slow process, basically. Yoga is amazing for stretching and gaining flexibility and at first you feel like you've more than doubled your flexibility... And then all of a sudden you're plateauing. The trick is to do it EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. No joke. I totally have gotten 3 inches away from the splits and now I'm at least 8. Because I don't do it every day.

The best thing I can recommend is any time you're sitting on the couch/recliner/beanbag chair/whatever else you sit on then get down and get on the floor and stretch. Legs out in front of you and just reach for your toes. Then go spread eagle and reach out in front of you and get as close to laying down as you can. Then reach for each of your toes, readjusting every time. I'm trying to figure out the best way to describe it without a video...I'm at a loss for words. Argh! Like start with your arms up in the air and then slowly go down and reach for your right foot then pull back up and readjust to go for the left. Make sense?

Honestly, for beginning yoga you can skip the classes and start with youtube vids. That way you're not wasting money on a class and you can see if you actually do like it. If you do, then classes are awesome! If you don't like it, though, they're miserable. I'll be completely honest about that. i've dragged friends to yoga class with me before and they were miserable and wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the day. haha! It's a love or hate relationship.

But I digress. Stretch any time you have time. While you're watching TV sit there and stretch out. Feel the burn! It feels amazing. It may hurt and you may actually be sore at first but it's so worth it.

I should add being able to do the splits to my 6 week challenge... Hmm... Maybe next time. =P

[Centurion]

What is it you're trying to achieve flexibility wise? I do kickboxing/muay thai about 5 times a week so I'm pretty flexibile. Simply put to get more flexible you need to stretch your muscles but there are different ways and types of stretching.

1) Static stretching - this is you "standard" stretch that most people will recognise as stretching. Essentially there should be no movement involved (hence static), you go into a position where your muscles are being stretched and hold. How long you hold is debatable and varies from person to person but 30 seconds is a good guideline. Personally I've found that static stretching will increase your flexibility over the long-run but you may find that you are actually less flexible and slightly stiffer immediately after doing it, thus I'd recommend saving it for the end of your work out

2) Dynamic stretching - contrary to static stretching this involves controlled movement to stretch your muscles. Leg raises are a great example that we use a lot in kickboxing (can be to the front, side or rear). Note that it is controlled movement, it's not just throwing your leg up as high as possible, that would be ballistic stretching and all that will do is cause you injuries

3) PNF Stretching - stands for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching (managed to remember that without looking it up ). There's a lot of different varieties of this but very simply it involves performing a static stretch for 30 seconds or so and then tensing the muscles you are stretching for about 10 seconds. Then you increase the stretch and repeat. Very good for increasing flexibility but be careful about doing it too regularly.

I agree with Sydnie, stretching needs to be done regularly to have an effect, doesn't necessarily have to be everyday but there's nothing wrong with doing it everyday. You can't expect huge gains in flexibility overnight but you will get out what you put it and if you focus on it and do it everyday you will progress quicker than if you only do it a few times a week. Just don't over do the stretches trying to push too fast, you want them to be uncomfortable but not painful.

I have a huge variety of stretches that I use regularly that I can't be bothered to type up but they're all readily available online, just shout if you want some info on them

EDIT: Forgot to add, dynamic stretching is good to do before you work out (I always do it before starting a kickboxing session) as it helps to warm you up and will help relax your muscles, unlike static stretching. PNF stretching should be left until afterwards like static stretching

[WhiteVandal]

Thanks, Sydnie! Thanks Centurion! That's some great info to start with. I'll definitely check out some basic yoga youtube vids.

Centurion, I love your quotes, especially the first.

So do you think its beneficial to have a lengthy stretch session on an off day? Like, full body workout one day, 30 mins of stretching the next, and so on and so forth?

[unicornassassin]

Yoga!

I agree with Centurion, it doesn't need to be every day, but regularly is key. I do yoga most days, and I find that I stretch on days I don't do it because I NEED to, my body just feels tight. Sitting talking with friends or watching TV, I'll be stretching a bit.

I do yoga on full-on workout days. If you're doing it to get the flexibility benefits, rather than strength, I wouldn't worry about which days you do it.

[Centurion]

It depends on you really, personally I find I get bored if I try to spend that long stretching but if you can manage it then why not. Again regularity is the key, 30 minutes of stretching is great but if you find it so tedious that you only end up doing it once a week then you won't see as much improvement as if you just did 5-10 minutes everyday or every other day. I tend to do all my stretching after training sessions which gives me 4-5 sessions of stretching a week (although we don't always do a proper stretching session). They are each definitely no more than 10 minutes long but I'd say that whilst I'm not the most flexible person in the world I'm more flexible than the average person (I can side split far enough down to be able to touch my head to the floor). If you are going to do a stretching session on your off-days make sure you still do something to warm-up (jogging, jumping jacks, push ups, etc.) as stretching cold muscles will increase your injury risk, you'll also find once you've warmed up your muscles should be slightly more flexible as well.

EDIT: Forgot to add that just generally being active will also help your flexibility, if you spend a lot of the day walking around you are obviously going to have more blood flowing to your legs and they will be being stretched more (even if you don't notice) than if you just sit at a desk all day

[WhiteVandal]

Cool, thanks alot, man!

[BadWolf]

I can lay my fingers flat on the ground in front of my toes, but I might just be a freak. I do high knee's, arm swings, stuff like that to stretch before a workout and then static stretching after. I also do a lot of stretches for my lower back. You could do yoga, but movement is the key! Get into an activity that gets you moving a lot! Good luck!

[JPanda]

Stretch. Stretch. Stretch! Doing stretches before going to sleep / after waking up definitely helps with overall flexibility. Before weightlifting / any physical activity you want to do some dynamic stretching to get the blood flowing freely. Static stretching should be saved for after a workout.

Also, you'll notice considerable progress if you take an off day (for me it's Sunday) and do a relatively long (~1 hour) deep stretching session, to the point where you're almost sore afterwards (or just feel like rubber).

[Morrigainz]

http://www.mobilitywod.com/ ?

[maegs]

I've been told that you should only do static stretching when you're warmed up (better for your muscles than doing it cold, plus you'll get a better stretch), while you can use dynamic stretching as part of your warm up.