How flexible are you?
01-18-19, 06:16 PM
#26
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Lay down on the ground on your back and try to make a 90 degree angle by lifting your legs (one by one of course).
I fail this test as I can make only a 60 degree angle with my left leg while I can lift my right leg almost straight.
Is it due to tight hamstrings do you think? Or some gluteal muscles? How do you think I can correct this and make both legs equally flexible?
P.s. I don't ride for about five years due to some patellafemoral syndrome. I wonder if it has to do anything with this and maybe I can ride again if I can correct this.
I fail this test as I can make only a 60 degree angle with my left leg while I can lift my right leg almost straight.
Is it due to tight hamstrings do you think? Or some gluteal muscles? How do you think I can correct this and make both legs equally flexible?
P.s. I don't ride for about five years due to some patellafemoral syndrome. I wonder if it has to do anything with this and maybe I can ride again if I can correct this.
02-03-19, 09:19 AM
#27
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Do some forward folds as in yoga and hang in the pose for 5 to 10 minutes several times a day. Relax in the folds and let the hamstrings slowly stretch. It takes time to increase flexibility. Don't force the muscles and tendons to lengthen. Don't spring or bounce when you are stretching.
02-03-19, 02:43 PM
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After many years of doing forward (back, glute, and ham) stretches and never getting much relief from my lower back pain, I discovered McKenzie: https://www.spineone.com/blog/mckenz...hod-back-pain/
Fixed me right up the first day I did them. A revelation.
Fixed me right up the first day I did them. A revelation.
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02-03-19, 03:03 PM
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To answer the original question, I'm flexible enough for everyday life. Never saw the point of trying to increase flexibility, even before the studies started coming out that reported damaged connective tissue in some frequent stretchers.
I understand that stretching can be essential for people who have to live with certain kinds of chronic pain. That doesn't describe all the people posting about their stretching regimens, though.
At 67, aside from arthritis in my left elbow from breaking it at age 5 and again at age 11, I have no joint flexibility problems. I can probably thank having been a lifelong cyclist for that. Sometimes it sounds as if talk of how much people can bend is simply a matter of bragging rights. What is flexibility beyond the norm good for?
I understand that stretching can be essential for people who have to live with certain kinds of chronic pain. That doesn't describe all the people posting about their stretching regimens, though.
At 67, aside from arthritis in my left elbow from breaking it at age 5 and again at age 11, I have no joint flexibility problems. I can probably thank having been a lifelong cyclist for that. Sometimes it sounds as if talk of how much people can bend is simply a matter of bragging rights. What is flexibility beyond the norm good for?
Last edited by Trakhak; 02-03-19 at 03:12 PM.
02-03-19, 05:57 PM
#30
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To answer the original question, I'm flexible enough for everyday life. Never saw the point of trying to increase flexibility, even before the studies started coming out that reported damaged connective tissue in some frequent stretchers.
I understand that stretching can be essential for people who have to live with certain kinds of chronic pain. That doesn't describe all the people posting about their stretching regimens, though.
At 67, aside from arthritis in my left elbow from breaking it at age 5 and again at age 11, I have no joint flexibility problems. I can probably thank having been a lifelong cyclist for that. Sometimes it sounds as if talk of how much people can bend is simply a matter of bragging rights. What is flexibility beyond the norm good for?
I understand that stretching can be essential for people who have to live with certain kinds of chronic pain. That doesn't describe all the people posting about their stretching regimens, though.
At 67, aside from arthritis in my left elbow from breaking it at age 5 and again at age 11, I have no joint flexibility problems. I can probably thank having been a lifelong cyclist for that. Sometimes it sounds as if talk of how much people can bend is simply a matter of bragging rights. What is flexibility beyond the norm good for?
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