Three Part Flexibility Guide

NOTE: This guide has been superseded

I was asked by a couple of people to do a little writeup on flexibility work, and when I actually sat down to do it, it was a huge wall of text. So I split it into three parts and decided to post it elsewhere.

Now I give it to you in it's slightly incomplete form (I need pictures/videos for most of the stretches and exercises, to make it clearer).

This is information distilled from a lot of different sources, with certain small changes based on my own personal experiences. It's worth noting that I am not Stretch Armstrong. I am not there yet, and am working on it just like you. Very little of this is anecdotal evidence. 75% of it comes from other people's results, and scientific studies (thanks to Thomas Kurz's book, Stretching Scientifically).

Part 1: The Flexibility Routine - probably the most important part of gaining flexibility is maintaining it, and staying limber for your regular activities.

Part 2: Stretching: What? How? Why?. The basic rundown of how stretching works, and some basic coverage of static and isometric stretching.

Part 3: Programming Flexibility. A few example plans describing how you can fit stretching into your existing routine.

I welcome comments, criticism, etc. I consider this an organic work-in-progress that will be ever changing. I will probably continue to add more articles as areas of focus come up.