Source
r/flexibility•
fjdkf

How quickly can flexibility gains be expected?

The last paragraph has my question, but if you want a bit of background, you can read the other ones.

My family has a fairly extensive history of back problems, and flexibility has really limited me at times. For example, I can't do front finishing kayak rolls, because of flexibility. However, although my back has seized up to the point where I had to stop running or working out for a month, I've never had an 'event' that blew my back out.

My current flexibility though the posterior chain is pretty bad right now... I checked by drawing lines on my wall, and without stretches I can bend over ~17degrees from vertical with a flat back. And, with a little pain, I can get my fingertips just past my kneecap with a bent back. I can do stuff like a back bend with zero training, but touching my toes has always been out of reach.

It's pretty annoying, since I did about a decade of track and field, where we did static stretching + legs swings 2-3x per week for 6months out of the year. I was a bit more flexible then, but could still only get maybe 1/3 of the way down my shins.

I tried yoga a couple years ago and it seemed to work(could get maybe 2/3 of the way down my shins after stretching by the end of it), but I absolutely hated it, and it took a couple hours a week. Needless to say, I quit after a couple months.

I read a bunch of stuff from the sidebar here, and decided to try this one, since it seems quick, and I haven't done it before. I gained several inches of flexibility by the end of it, but 30 mins after the exercise, I checked again, and was back to exactly where I started. I'm hoping some will stick if I do it for a few weeks.

However, I need a way of telling if I should stop a program and try a different one. Should I expect any flexibility gains after a week? How much flexibility should I expect after a month? What would be a realistic timeframe for touching my toes? 6 months? There's tons of info out there on flexibility, but I can't seem to find numbers on how quickly I should be able to gain it.

Posted Aug 22, 2015, 4:44 PM UTC

3020
johnbugara•

I am by no means an expert but I always considered myself to have very poor flexibility and after after three weeks of this program I can comfortably touch the floor with perfectly straight legs when I'm warm. When I started I was about 2/3 the way down my shins. The isometric part of the program really helped me push further, just make sure to be careful and patient.

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TurtlNa•

Did you do every video? And how often

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johnbugara•

Didn't watch the video and i halfass the dynamic stretching. Mostly just doing isometric stretches a few days a week and my flexibility is better than ever. Was playing football for the first time since our season ended today and I was faster than ever, jumping super high too. Haven't been doing anything besides stretches since the season ended as I hurt my shoulder but I feel they alone have allowed me to hit the next level of athleticism.

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fjdkfOP•

Hmm well I've got many years of isometric stretches behind me, and they never did much when it comes to touching my toes... If other things don't work, I can try them again. Isometrics give me flexibility in muscles where it feels like the muscle itself is stretching... for example, my quads will get rapid flexibility gains if I do isometrics. Posterior chain though? Nope, all I get is pain behind the knees.

1
HeelsSpinRound•

Hey, I did the toe touch progression thing too. I'd never been able to even come close to touching my toes, and after doing that all of a sudden I could... until a couple hours later when I couldn't again. It was super frustrating that I never kept the "increased flexibility." I put that in quotes because what I finally figured out was that it didn't make me 3x more flexible in the span of a minute, what it was doing was forcing me to bend properly.

There are two ways you can bend down. You can bend from your back (this is the wrong way/the only way I'd ever tried to bend down before) or you can hinge at the hips (this is the right way!). Basically, I started trying to focus on hinging at the hips, and all of a sudden I could always reach as far as I could with the toe touch progression. I made sure to push my butt back and sort of lean my legs back when attempting a standing pike, and eventually just got the hang of it. Check out the way this woman bends down when doing good mornings- that's the way you want to bend: https://youtu.be/Iycq-kJann0 . No guarantees that it'll work for you, but it may be worth a shot.

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fjdkfOP•

That makes sense, I'll try that for awhile. I'm pretty protective of my back, so I try not to put much force on it while bending it.

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Krystalraev•

I'd look into Yamuna Body Rolling. Find a hands on practitioner or take a class. My SI joint released in one session, but as far as flexibility, it kind of combines yoga and trigger point massage in one. Really transformational and stuff you can learn to do on your own too.

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adv1k•

SI joint released?

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Krystalraev•

I don't know how to explain it aside from the differences in how I sit on the floor. I couldn't sit with a straight back, no matter how hard I tried until I had a hands on body rolling class. I went to training to be an instructor and another student did it for me. It took one session.

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lieslieslieslieslies•

If you like Yamuna, get one of these.

My wife and I are bodyworkers, and we roll each other on it.

It's like Yamuna, but more intense.

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Krystalraev•

Thanks! I'm about to take Foot Fitness this weekend. Have you tried the in-bed balls?

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lieslieslieslieslies•

No, but I roll the arch of my feet with the studded therapy ball while doing balance work on it.

I spend a lot of time working people's feet in my day job, it hurts so good.

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Krystalraev•

I'll bet! I'm an everter and I can't wait to fix my feet.

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fjdkfOP•

Is there anything significantly different between those balls and a foam roller? I almost bought a roller a couple years ago, and I'm still kinda on the fence about it.

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Krystalraev•

I don't know about you, but I hate my life when I foam roll and then once I'm done, I can't say that I feel better either. The body rolling is much slower, but a lot less painful and more effective if you do it correctly. You're not actively rolling back and forth- you start at a bone, breathe and sink, then move down (or up), breathe and sink, move along. I'm a trigger point massage therapist and I think that it's more effective than what I do.

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fjdkfOP•

Hmm interesting. I've never done any form of muscle rolling or massage, so this stuff is all new to me.

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Krystalraev•

Massage is almost a blanket term for a large amount of bodywork. Each therapist is going to be incredibly different, so if you're an athlete or if you're injured, search out therapists and body workers who specialize in what you need or you'll just be throwing your money away on Swedish massages (the gentle kind you always see in movies or on spa billboards). These modalities will be most beneficial for you: Neuromuscular Myofascial release Rolfing Sports massage (another blanket term- look into what they actually do) Structural Integration There are more (melt method and the like), but hat should get you going.

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lennarn•

I got a Rogue supernova a few months ago, it's like a foam roller only it's a ball, and it loosens up everything very well. It's the best self massage tool I've tried.

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jsir•

If it's anything like muscle gains then around 1-2 months

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sukriti1995•

Something like touching your toes, maybe a few months max. Something like your back or hips? You see significant progress for that over years.

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