Flexibility/stretching

[twinkletoesfairynose]

Hi does anyone have any recommendations on YouTube channels/people who help with being more flexible ?

I've lost my movement and feel stiff as a board but haven't got time or money to go to classes

Thank you

What sort of stiffness do you want to alleviate?

You can do a lot of mobility exercises quite easily - think about mobility, rather than flexibility. I'm dance trained & still can do the splits and all that, but such flexibility is only useful insofar as you can use it - so functional mobility.

Doing something like gentle yoga would help as well. Just doing sun salutations pretty much stretches most areas of your body which need to be stretched for functionality.

I'd say look for:

• hip flexor stretches if you sit down a lot gentle spine rolls with head hanging down: stand feet under hips, stack your spine, engage your abs: then drop chin to chest, and let the weight of your skull guide your whole spine into forward flexion. Keep the abs engaged so you keep your weight forward (you should be able to rise on your toes at the bottom of the stretch). Don't* lock your knees - keep them slightly bent ad think of your torso lying along your thighs, and your sit bones (at the back of your pelvis) reaching up to the ceiling. Stay really relaxed.

If you want a good hamstring stretch from there while your upper body is upside down! bend your knees to the point where you can put your palms flat on the floor, keep your feet grounded into the floor, and then gently straighten your knees until you feel a gentle stretch in your hamstrings. Do it slowly and gently, and don't bounce. Feel mild discomfort, but not pain.

I always find going in to & out of the yoga Plough position is also another lovely spine rolling stretch, but probably work up to that one.

Lying down stretches are great - flat on your back, draw one knee to your chest, while trying to keep all of your back melting into the floor, and then take your knee over to the opposite side, while keeping your shoulder girdle relaxed flat into the floor. As you get more stretchy, you can stretch the leg out, and hold your toes with the opposite hand.

Those would be where I'd start - they're pretty much my daily relaxing stretches before & after ballet class or the gym.

Oh, and breathe out on the uncomfortable bit of the stretch. THen relax, and then try again - don't bounce, but hold and release, and co-ordinate with your breath.

Would you do 30 mins? I like Madfit.

I always find going in to & out of the yoga Plough position is also another lovely spine rolling stretch, but probably work up to that one.

I would say definitely work up to that one, & ideally don’t do it unless you’ve done at least a couple of sun salutations to warm up.

After 2 years of trying I finally managed to get my toes on the floor in Plough about a month ago

Thank you everyone

I'm just aware mid thirties and struggling to jump over fences, get off the floor etc etc
I feel stiff and old lol

Do you have a desk based job? That can be an issue.

Would it help if you do things like have a quick quad stretch, shake our shoulders and even fingers, while you wait for the kettle to boil? Touch your toes?

There's lots of 10 minute stretch things on YouTube if 30 mins is too much.

PS I'm quite flexible and find plough difficult, I wouldn't try that until you've developed some flexibility.

@CarmelBeach

Do you have a desk based job? That can be an issue.

Would it help if you do things like have a quick quad stretch, shake our shoulders and even fingers, while you wait for the kettle to boil? Touch your toes?

There's lots of 10 minute stretch things on YouTube if 30 mins is too much.

Usually not but because of covid it has been more

OK, so really, it seems to me that it's about general mobility for you, if you're sitting more. As I said upthread, think mobility rather than flexibility. And pleeeease don't just try to touch your toes in one go if you don't have the flexibility: it's a great way to spasm your back or pull your hamstrings.

If you want to do a stretching session, you need to mobilise first - go for a walk or a run ( 20 min walk or just a short 10 minute burst of a run is enough) which literally "warms up" your body, by getting all the large muscle groups working, blood flowing, and your core temperature up (ie 'warm").

Then do some simple mobilising: swing your arms in circles, forwards & back, jump squats or burpees, swing your legs forwards and back, twist your torso - all of these quite briskly, so you keep the blood flowing and the work in your muscles. Then maybe a couple of slow spine rolls, keeping your knees bent the whole time.

Then standing stretches are nice: raise one arm over your head and kind of push into that hip, and stretch that whole side. Repeat on the other side. Or stand close to a wall, feet crossed, and put the arm furthest from the wall over your head, press it into the wall, and press your hips away - again it's a stretch all down the side of your body.

If you're sitting more, you need to stretch your hip flexors - you can find lots of YouTube guides to the standard kneeling stretch for this. Look for qualified physiotherapists' YouTube channels - they give the best functional stretches.

You probably also need to just stretch out your spine on the floor, after sitting all day - I like to lie on the floor and bring my knees to my chest , and just rock forward & back, and side to side. I also like the yoga 'happy baby" stretch after a long stint at my desk.

So nothing like the splits - just functional mobility is what you probably need.

Lol thanks, no spilts where never a goal lol

That's really good information I will take that on board