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Original poster

I am so inflexible - can't touch my toes!

25 replies

Cantflex · 23/02/2021 14:46

I've never been able to touch my toes. Been a total slob over the past year or so, but have started couch to 5k. Years ago, I would go to the gym several times a week, but all that fitness and stamina have gone. Trying to get it back. Stretching really helps and important to prevent injuries but I am so inflexible. Always have been. Can I improve it? Just stick with yoga and pilates, and hopefully I'll get better? Should I be doing anything else?

OP posts:

starrynight21 · 23/02/2021 14:54

Tight hamstrings are the main reason why people can't touch their toes. You can be very unfit and still be able to touch them, and conversely you can be superfit and unable to do it. Just keep on with what you are doing . Unless you particularly WANT to touch your toes for some reason, forget about it and just enjoy doing exercise that you enjoy.

FedUpAtHomeTroels · 23/02/2021 14:56

Dd can't normally do it either, but found if she spins in a circle then reaches down she can touch her toes. Someone did it at school wierdly it worked.

sanityisamyth · 23/02/2021 14:58

I can't either. I've got severe hyperextension of both knees, a rotated pelvis and a compressed lower back. Closet at I can get is about 4" off the floor!!

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ViciousJackdaw · 23/02/2021 15:06

@FedUpAtHomeTroels

Dd can't normally do it either, but found if she spins in a circle then reaches down she can touch her toes. Someone did it at school wierdly it worked.

A small warm up before doing the stretch then. Sounds about right...

MaddieElla · 23/02/2021 15:11

As a PP says, tight hamstings!

If you stretch up your arms to the sky, and then sweep down (repeatedly), you will get deeper with each stretch.

Also warm up properly.

I do this in the shower after a run

MaddieElla · 23/02/2021 15:12

*hamstrings

WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo · 23/02/2021 15:13

I've never been able to touch my toes. People always thinks it's odd, probably because I spent 16 years of my life dancing

viques · 23/02/2021 15:15

I can’t touch mine either, I haven’t got long legs so I think I must have very short arms.

Or tight hamstrings.

ifyoulikepinacolada · 23/02/2021 15:16

If you can put your own shoes on you’re doing fine :)

aweegc · 23/02/2021 15:19

I discovered at school (via physio relative) that a lot of it comes down to nature. So, I had friends who were couch potatoes but could do it while I couldn't. She knew the kids and pointed out they all had long torsos and short legs. I was the other way around.

I have been able to in the past, with LOTS of practice, but if someone has a long torso and short legs, they're going to get far closer to the floor mechanically with the same level of flexibility, than I will!

I'd love to be able to fold forwards with a flat back and have my hands flat on the floor..not going to happen now though!

mumofone2019 · 23/02/2021 15:23

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn at the poster's request due to privacy concerns.

Original poster

Cantflex · 23/02/2021 15:28

Ah thanks all. Seems like it's tight hamstrings. I am way more flexible after a run, or swimming, and after a bath/shower which helps. With some practice, I have almost touched my toes. I'm just thinking I need to be more flexible generally to do the stretches to help prevent any injuries that potentially come with running etc. Keep the suggestions coming! Will check em out.

OP posts:

JustCallMeBrittany · 23/02/2021 16:32

I have never ever been able to touch my toes, ankles at most even at my most superfit.
In my 30s I could only reach my knees so addressed my hamstrings by attending a PT and doing a lot of dead lifts and squats, and it helped. Now I find after a 5km run I can get back to my ankles. I just accept this is my baseline.

I can freakishly bring my arms backwards to my head standing up though so there's definitely some elastic there somewhere 😂

GrimDamnFanjo · 23/02/2021 16:53

I had serious issues with my hamstrings as a child and had months of physio as it affected my gait.
Never able to touch my toes after that cured me for a while until now after about 8 months of yoga about 3 times a week. Took a while but it worked for me.

ThePricklySheep · 23/02/2021 16:54

@Cantflex

I think stick with the yoga

DisplayPurposesOnly · 23/02/2021 17:00

I am fat, unfit, have a bad back, shorter arms/longer legs - and yet miraculously I can touch my toes!

One helpful trick if you have a yoga mat: lay it out then use your feet to roll/scrunch it into a ball then tread it (like treading grapes) for a bit. Youll be able to stretch a bit further.

SoupDragon · 23/02/2021 17:02

I can and I am generally quite inflexible.

She knew the kids and pointed out they all had long torsos and short legs. I was the other way around.

I am the other way round too. My mum has short legs and a long body though and can get her hands flat on the floor (or could a few years ago, she's over 80 now and it's probably best not to try!)

IIRC, in our house the two females can (one flexible dancer, one stiff couch potato!) and the two males can't (rugby players)

fussychica · 23/02/2021 17:16

I'm mid 60s. I do this every day as part of my stretching/exercise routine, 10 to toes and 10 hands flat on the floor (short legs, long arms) but if you can't warm up first then try. The just hang there for 30 seconds, the next day try again and you'll probably get closer to the floor. Keep doing that and you'll probably do it. DS, fit, late 20s, has never been able to do it though.

doadeer · 23/02/2021 18:23

Best thing is just do a stretch every day or start yoga.

Many people who can touch the floor naturally are hypermobile and this can bring problems in other areas.

You don't need to be able to touch the floor... But if you want to stretch follow the diagram below

I am so inflexible - can't touch my toes!

doadeer · 23/02/2021 18:24

Or this

PhilippaArchersOlderSister · 23/02/2021 18:29

On YouTube Femfusion fitness has a video called "Hamstring release for quick stress relief". About 8 mins long.

She has you try to touch your toes at the beginning and end of the video, I can never do it before and always after!

RandomMess · 23/02/2021 18:29

I've been doing strengthening and stretching for 8 weeks or so nearly every day and have made little progress 😭

ginandtonic80 · 02/03/2021 13:31

I've been doing yoga with Adriene 4 x a week since the beginning of January and I can now touch my toes for the first time since, oh, most of my adult life!

I've been working through her 30 days of yoga series (now on the second one) and it is definitely making a difference.

I'm a little bit stronger and I now feel like the effects of a sedentary year WFH have been reversed. Before I started I was feeling extremely stiff.

BugsAndBeesAndBirdsAndButterfl · 02/03/2021 13:34

I am seriously overweight and unfit... and can touch my toes/the floor. I can't do half the other yoga stuff as my stomach gets in the way though :(

JeremyIronsBenFolds · 02/03/2021 13:35

I could never touch my toes, even as a child - my natural shape is wrong, long legs and a short torso. However, I started exercising more seriously as I turned 40, weight training etc, and for the first time in my life I now can! Admittedly I can just scrape the ground for a second before popping back up, but it's incredibly satisfying. I used to wonder what was wrong with me!

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