Becoming more Flexible?

SkyGheNe

So due to various physical activities that I've become acquainted with recently, I need to become more flexible.

Is there a particular regiment/system that helps make this a reality? I understand that the key is doing it every day - so I have a few yoga poses I work on, and when I'm reading I often sit in a manner that stretches my legs...try to fit it in every way I can.

Any tips on this one? I hear it's bad to hold a position too long? Any help is appreciated!

Skoal Cat

We have a circus school in town which has a weekly contortion/flexibility class. I haven't taken it yet, but finding something like that would surely be a great help.

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

Stretch in the morning, and before and after workouts. It's not bad to hold a position for a long time unless it becomes painful. Staying hydrated helps.

It's hard to have a regimen without know what you're trying to be flexible enough to do, but usually groin, quads/hamstrings and shoulders are pretty generally applicable.

Inquisitor77

Just do it a lot. Try not to bounce - stretch and hold instead. Stretching before workouts is fine, but you'll probably make the most progress in terms of flexibility if you stretch afterwards. Don't get caught up in the arguments about whether or not you should stretch before or after workouts, or whether more flexibility leads to more injuries, etc. etc. etc. Right now there's not enough evidence either way, so if you want to be more flexible the only way currently known to man is to just stretch it out and do exercises. Pain is to be expected when you're pushing yourself, but there's no need to push too hard. Changing your body is not something that can be done overnight with one focused, pain-filled session - it's going to take a lot of repetition over a long period of time. As long a you're making progress, that's all that matters.

Blake T

Yoga

Pilates

Become mr fantastic.

You know, the usual.

I've jtst started pilates and it does make me closer to touching my toes.

I would recommend some classes first as they help you with alternative poses if you have trouble. After that, look at some DVDs.

SkyGheNe

Awesome - Thanks everyone!

Enc

A cheap (next to classes anyhow) alternative might be WiiFit Plus. There are a lot of flexibility exercises, including most yoga poses, and the ai can help you ensure you are properly pushing yourself without leaving your house.

SkyGheNe

Enc wrote:

A cheap (next to classes anyhow) alternative might be WiiFit Plus. There are a lot of flexibility exercises, including most yoga poses, and the ai can help you ensure you are properly pushing yourself without leaving your house.

That's an awesome idea - didn't know wii fit went into that sort of thing. Does the Kinect have anything like that too? I imagine the camera might be more accurate, right?

Blake T

Kinevt has something but I think it's more general exercises.

They aren't that good other than showing you poses. There are a heap of really subtle things, which are the point of pilates which the sensors wouldn't pick up such as tightening of the pelvic floor.

They would be useful as a routine, they would be useless for giving you actual skills.