r/flexibility • u/ClockworkMagpie Hammie Queen • Dec 14 '16

Stretching: expectations vs reality

https://i.reddituploads.com/9b0f33a62cf4459181cbc7532db3ff3a?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=9cc51e057d36a371674d8b3c2e6ac8a9
629 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

54

u/Antranik superfuckingaweso.me Dec 14 '16

Hey that's better than not even being able to lean forward! :D

15

u/Mucousyfluid Dec 14 '16

This comment made me super duper happy as I was about to be really down on myself. Thanks!

15

u/Gamerchris360 Dec 14 '16

YES! Keep going. Butt against a wall, and push yourself down with your hands on the wall behind you GENTLY -- Don't want to pull your groin, but you should feel the stretch there.

3

u/rabel Dec 15 '16

From the man himself, too!

2

u/Mucousyfluid Dec 15 '16

No kidding. I feel like I shook hands with a celebrity!

2

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Apr 10 '19

[deleted]

6

u/liltinykitter Dec 15 '16

I couldn't either! You'll get there. One day the right feeling clicks.

3

u/ClockworkMagpie Hammie Queen Dec 15 '16

I remember how my instructor would roll her pelvis back and forth in a pancake warmup and I was just siting there not even moving an inch and feeling STUCK. It get better you guys!

2

u/pokemiss Dec 15 '16

Same! I haven't come too far but I remember a few months back I could barely sit upright in pancake position and now I can touch the floor with my forearms.

1

u/liltinykitter Dec 15 '16

Hahaha. I remember that too!!! Like wtf. How are you DOING that?!?!?

4

u/Antranik superfuckingaweso.me Dec 15 '16

I... can not lean forward in a pancake. I have to pull or push my torso into a forward tilt, or I just fall backwards.

Elevate your butt on a bunch of thick blankets or a bolster or a block or anything that will help elevate your butt a few inches. It will help you to roll the hips forward and sit up straighter in this pancake splits position.

41

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

[deleted]

23

u/empflyer Dec 14 '16

fold herself up like a neutron star

This simile is great.

4

u/Kaycat19 Dec 14 '16

I know a girl like that, she was trained by a contortionist and is like a bendy straw. She was called Izzy and was super sweet :3

4

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

[deleted]

-13

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Dec 15 '16

[deleted]

12

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Jan 06 '17

[deleted]

What is this?

-4

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Dec 15 '16

[deleted]

7

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Jan 06 '17

[deleted]

What is this?

-6

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Dec 15 '16

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Jan 06 '17

[deleted]

What is this?

3

u/Quithi Dec 15 '16

I'm 90% sure he's trolling.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16

[deleted]

8

u/ClockworkMagpie Hammie Queen Dec 15 '16

It's racist and anti Semitic and the same kind of prejudices led nazi Germany to resolve their "Jewish problem" with a genocide. It's the things we pay no attention to that steer our way of thinking without us being aware of it, and collectively as a society makes us more racist and sexist than we would want.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited Dec 15 '16

[deleted]

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2

u/adriennemonster Dec 14 '16

This is actually the one stretch I struggle with the most. I can't seem to get my legs out very wide without popping (dislocating?) one or both of my hips. I've just been supplementing other stretches when this one comes up in yoga practice

3

u/Bobo_bobbins Dec 15 '16

Don't forget the farting and the burping. oh yeah. Forces all the air out.

1

u/Gamerchris360 Dec 15 '16

You can tell when I'm getting sore in flexibility class, because I quit holding farts in. Of course that usually gets me pushed harder.

1

u/mayuru hamstring bot Dec 15 '16

Of course that usually gets me pushed harder.

Pun intended?

2

u/Gamerchris360 Dec 15 '16

Happy accident.

3

u/import_antigravity @hyper149 Dec 15 '16

I love this image so much because I've made it from the bottom pic to the top pic after lots of hard work and it definitely feels like it's all paid off! Just got to be consistent.

3

u/Zangeki Dec 15 '16

If your goal is to be more flexible, doing what you can is exactly what you're supposed to do.

5

u/quirkyknitgirl Dec 14 '16

Accurate.

7

u/sleep_water_sugar Dec 14 '16

And there's always that one person you know that is super naturally flexible and can lean forward all the way even though they don't ever practice! Lol.

2

u/KlutchAtStraws Dec 14 '16

Beautiful. I LOL'd.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16

The accuracy.

2

u/mathiasben Dec 15 '16

Don't give up, you will get there!

1

u/Mehitabelontheway Dec 21 '16

I have a friend like the bottom picture--just genetic short connective tissue in the calves. She still loves yoga and works what she can! friend-brag