How to improve flexibility?

[Espaim]

I reach my toes but I wish I could place both my hands on the floor 

I think it's in the human egoic nature to not be satisfied with what we have hahahaha

Good luck on your streching journey!

 

[lostmedstudent]

@Espaim you just have to stretch a bit everyday and you will get there

[KingCrimson]

I used to be extremely inflexible. Then I took up yoga. 20-30 minutes of asanas every day will do the trick. After only 2-3 months of practise, I was able to touch the floor with the palm of my hand again. Before, I couldn't even get much past the knees. Consistency is the key. I was surprised how fast the results came. The beginning will be the hardest. Nowadays I can't imagine not doing yoga every day, my body is yearning for the stretch and it feels so good.

When I began my practise, I started by following this course. This is extremely convenient since all the postures are shown and explained, and you have a fixed routine that you can folllow. Try it if you like. It worked for me.

 

[lostmedstudent]

@KingCrimson greaté thank you so much for sharing !

[wordsforliving]

@KingCrimson  Do you do this same routine on the video every day? 

[28 cm unbuffed]

I just started doing Wim Hof's course, there is a stretching exercise, connected with breathing, it works something like that: 

1. You take a deep breath

2. You hold it for some time

3. You let it go and at the same time you try to push your stretch 

Wim describes it that way: air is being stored in your veins and then you block it for a while. After a couple of seconds - boom, tsunami, it goes all the way forward, and it's synchronized with your stretch, so it makes it easier. 

 

[KingCrimson]

19 hours ago, wordsforliving said:

@KingCrimson  Do you do this same routine on the video every day? 

I used to do this routine exactly as shown in the video. The first 6 weeks are the introductory / beginner lessons. The lessons will gradually become more advanced. But even if you did just the first 6 weeks of beginner lessons and never did any of the advanced stuff, in terms of mere flexibility, you would see huge improvements. Having said all that, developing flexibility is nice, but is only a small aspect of Yoga practice. The real goal is to attain union with God. Folllow the instructions of the teacher in the videos and you will be fine. If you have any questions, you can always just ask him on YouTube as well and he will reply to you.

[Elton]

@lostmedstudent have you tried loosing some weight first ?

Continue practice stretching over time you will succeed.. 

 

[AriSujan]

@lostmedstudent This surely will be helpful

 

[lostmedstudent]

thanks

the past few days have been discouraging. after my 30min stretching session i can reach my toes easily but the next day, before my session, i lose all progress from the day before. does it mean im not stretching enough? i feel like everyday im back at where i was the day before after streching. and before i stretch, i cant touch my toes 

[mandyjw]

@lostmedstudent  I think I read somewhere else that you run a lot, is that right? Running is really bad for flexibility, unless you stretch really well after. You'll also be able to stretch further naturally right after a run. 

[loub]

22 hours ago, lostmedstudent said:

thanks

the past few days have been discouraging. after my 30min stretching session i can reach my toes easily but the next day, before my session, i lose all progress from the day before. does it mean im not stretching enough? i feel like everyday im back at where i was the day before after streching. and before i stretch, i cant touch my toes 

What you are experiencing as progress while stretching is actually just a relaxation of your muscles. You can get much closer to your toes after holding that position for 5 min, yet that does not mean your tendons have lengthened. That actually takes about a year of daily, consistent stretching. Not to discourage you though, that relaxation is super important and beneficial in so many ways. Great progress btw, I would recommend also doing a mahamudra stretch, as it has been shown to be the most effective at also stretching your veins which is crucial for overall health and bodily longevity.

Here's a video on mahamudra and it's benefits.

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by loub

[lostmedstudent]

@mandyjw yup i usually stretch right after my run for 30min! i feel very tight in my legs if i dont stretch

@loub thank you!! i will incorporate that in my daily routine! i do yin yoga type stretches everyday  thats a good explanation for what im experiencing , not feeling discouraged

yin yoga focuses on breathing, this one you linked says to hold the breath, why is that? how long do you hold it for usually?

Edited June 13, 2020 by lostmedstudent

[lostmedstudent]

here is a video i made documenting my progress with my own insights, for those interested

 

[Bogdan]

Static stretching will plateau pretty quickly. Flexibility is essentially a function of the nervous system. When you get a joint close to the end of it's range of motion, the nervous system activates the muscles surrounding that joint, preventing it to go past the point that it's familiar with.

So the solution to flexibility is to strengthen the end of the range of motion of any particular joint.

This channel is gold:

Also, check out this:

 

[lostmedstudent]

an update.  i am now 4.5 months in. 

id say there were 2 months of plateau where if i stretched, i notice a slight difference, and if i didnt stretch for a day, id be back to day 1. ive finally gotten past that hurdle and starting to see some improvement again!

[lostmedstudent]

@Bogdan thank you! i actually started doing loaded stretching after you shared those videos! it did help a lot