How to deal with genetic inflexibility?

[sfbaystreetworkout]

deleted due to unnecessary insult from moderator

[Kate Abernethy]

Hello,

I can't give you a solution sorry as I'm quite new to getting flexible myself.

One thing that did come to mind was that maybe you could benefit from relaxation or meditation techniques. We are all completely flexible when under anaesthesia: www.theballetblog.com/article/articles/flexibility/the-myth-of-short-muscles/

Good luck with getting bendy :-)

[Connor Davies]

Have you tried foam rolling?

[Joseff Lea]

I believe the key with stretching is consistency, I find pike stretches incredibly uncomfortable. I can reach my toes but the feeling is extremely unpleasant if I push for those last few inches. Saying that I've improved a lot using the mobility work found in F1 and a little of stretches from Kit's book, I don't push to the limit of my ROM as I find the unpleasantness puts me off and I don't do it properly. Also learning to isolate the muscle being stretched makes a huge difference.  
Foam rolling helps a lot and it's also necessary to build strength through your ROM.

[bajramovic92]

Well, you mentioned not being consistent earlier in that post, so I'm willing to bet you're not being consistent. You also might be forcing it too much. Flexibility is something that takes time and dedication to get down to a fairly proficient level. It's also something that can easily injure you if you try to force it. Again, it takes time and dedication.

 

Maybe do yourself a favor and get the Foundation One and Handstand One starter pack. I'm sure it'll help you a lot, especially because of the integrated mobility which, from the sounds of everyone doing this program, is an absolute gem (a review from a physical therapist on the front page even agrees). 

 

Coach Sommer knows EXACTLY what he's doing. He took a 16-year old who had zero gymnastics experience and got him to be able to do an iron cross in under 4 years. If that doesn't speak about the efficacy of his ways, then I don't know what will.

Also, the GB curriculum is going to be expanding dramatically. I'm not 100% whether or not there will be a dedicated stretching module, or if it will be completely integrated within other modules.

 

I'm planning on getting it soon (probably around my b-day).

[Mikkel Ravn]

I used to just barely be able to touch my toes after a thorough warm up. Having done F1 since April I can now put my palms flat on the floor with straight legs, without even warming up.

Just my 2 cents...

[David McManamon]

With a good stretching program it is highly likely you would find your ability to develop flexibility is average which is to say you could become very flexible only with hard work.  

I invest as much or more effort into stretching routines as I do during the hardest strength workouts, both benefit greatly from a high degree of concentration.

[Fred Mak]

honestly, this probably won't help you since you said you already tried dynamic stretches, but one of the safest stretching methods i know is intu-flow, from scott sonnen.  i don't use intu-flow much anymore.  i really don't enjoy doing it, but i definitely did get benefits out of it when i was doing it consistently.  if you're desperate, it might be worth looking into.  level one is here for free:

 

http://www.intu-flow.com/

[Fred Mak]

also, i notice that for my body, if i don't do strength training for my legs and just stretch my legs, i will quickly injure my legs.  i've been doing yoga 3x a week, and i find it necessary to do leg conditioning on the side.

[Rachid Tahri]

 

Can I even do gymnastics? Again, strength is not an issue for me, but sometimes I wonder if I can safely do gymnastics due to inflexibility...the thing is that my muscles have to work much harder than muscles of a flexible person to put my body in certain positions, and I did tear muscles this way before (I don't stretch, I break). Or, should I focus on other sports instead, that are more friendly towards inflexible people. Also, are there any special stretching tricks for the very inflexible?

First of all I cannot give you a complete "how to become more ..". (fill in the dots), because I don't know you plus internet communication is very limited for this kind of personal stuff.

What I CAN say from my point of view is that your thinking is flawed. Flexibility or rather mobility has a LOT to do with strength. In a certain way strength IS an issue for you.

I also met some people that tried their "version" of everything, but sometimes their everything in not EVERYTHING. Especially when I gave these people some (very) basic stretches/exercises and they saw amazing results, is when I concluded the thing about "everything".

Note though I am NOT denying the existence of talent for flexibility. I am basically saying that you probably didn't explore enough.

[Fred Mak]

you mentioned in a deleted post that you have muscular hypertonicity even during sleep.  therefore, i will assume that you went to the doctor to get the issue diagnosed.  and therefore, i will assume that the doctor could not help.  (if my assumption is wrong, then you should talk to the doctor again and see if there is a medical cure)

 

i notice that when i am very stressed out, i can not stay asleep at night - i will keep waking up.  this shows that the stresses of the day have crept over into my subconscious mind.  even though i am not consciously awake, the thoughts are coming up over and over and troubling me even while i am not conscious of them.  

 

therefore, i would suggest that instead of focusing so much on exercise, maybe try doing tai chi, qigong, or vipassana meditation.  these are meditation practices.  and not all meditation practices are the same.  not all will give you the same results.  there is also a book called "the power of now" by eckhart tolle that i found very powerful.  check out that book - i've read it 4 times and am currently reading it a 5th time right now.

 

if i were you, i would stay away from gymnastics until/if you can get a handle on this flexibility issue.  the point of life is not to be good at gymnastics, and if you keep hurting yourself, it's not worth it.

[Joshua Slocum]

Believing yourself to be incapable of improving your flexibility is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It sounds to me like your issues stem primarily from a lack of consistent, structured training. Yeah, your flexibility sucks right now. But if you decide not to work on it, it'll never get better.  

 

Developing flexibility is no different from developing strength: you have to work your butt off if you want to make significant gains. 

[Fred Mak]

oh yeah, ok, i CAN see your post about hypertonicity.  that's weird.  maybe i missed it earlier.

[Fred Mak]

how do you know you have muscular hypertonicity?

[Fred Mak]

how do you know that your muscles stay contracted even when you sleep?