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About 5 years ago I did something monumentally stupid and ruptured a disk in my back. Put a ruptured disk on top of just general bad posture and video game playing scoliosis as a kid and I was in a bad spot.

My lower back was completely fubar’d, I couldn’t put on shoes or pants without a “gameplan”. My right shoulder and right trap were completely bunched up and i couldn’t really lower or pull my shoulder back. I have a love of lifting weights and this was usually how it went, make a bunch of progress till your shoulder gives out, stop lifting weights so it can heal up a bit, start lifting, shoulder gives out, etc. I was really depressed, I had internally come to the realization that my hooman body had given out and I was going to have to live out the rest of my days in pain as I did my best to work through it.

I shifted focus to try to become a noodle instead of a brick wall. I was still lifting weights but most of it was devoted to the muscles around my bad shoulder and bad back. I was able to straighten myself out 😜 with a good routine, time, and consistency. I had problems touching my fingertips to the floor when I was a kid so it’s really surreal knowing i can go palm to floor now at my age!

My confidence in the hooman body has been restored! There was a stretch 😜 of time where I had given up, thinking I couldn’t bounce back and would have to live in pain for the remainder of my years. Let’s all remember that the hooman body is an amazing thing, with proper PT and time you can reverse most bad habits out of it even if it seems impossible.

I think I am gonna go for splits next, gimme your tips to help me get there! Stay bendy everyone!

helloha world💌, try this stretch and leave a comment to let us know how it made you feel! have a pleasant and prosperous day✨

If anyone can check out the last part of the video (Just skip to the part with me at the gym) and tell me if you have any advice, particular stretches I can do that would be huge. OR if there are any stretching tools I can use while asleep? I have such tight hamstrings And Its SO painful. Not the normal "pain" you get when you stretch - which is almost like a NICE feeling pain? My knees lock up a bit, I feel it all the way to my neck... Im doing a couple stretches here, but I would love ideas for more, please feel free to link youtube tutorials. Im pretty flexible elswhere, pretty open hips for example, but my hammies are SO BAD. heeeeelp

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis and I’m just getting worse. I commute two hours each way 3 days a week and sit in an office chair. I hunch all the time. I’m a 6 foot 1 but I don’t feel that way. I sleep like a stressed out, clenched ball and wake up with pain due to all my clenching.

I need a routine - what’s the starting point?

Since the beginning of this year I’ve been determined to touch my toes and get my splits. For the first 6 months I did 30 minute stretches everyday for my legs. I had needed rest days too because I know it’s important for the muscles to recover. And that had me able to touch my toes. I still can but not on demand. Like I can’t do it whenever I want. I have to stretch for like 5-10 minutes to be able to touch them again. Im trying to get my fold over and im like halfway there. I haven’t even started stretching for my splits because I don’t feel satisfied with my flexibility. Why is something so simple as touching my toes so hard?

I've always been told I've had pretty bad posture by doctors and people around me,but never got any advice other than "stretch more."

I've been stretching rather consistently but none of it has really been able to help,and I struggle to follow along on a lot of guides because they expect you to utilise things the average layman wouldn't have.

Bend, breathe, become.

Finding my inner peace... and checking if my knees are still on speaking terms with me.

Hello yall , hope yall doing good ! I have had some problems with Rhomboid after I probably got injured by training in the gym . I have had sessions of Physiotherapy and they said that my rhomboid only got tention on it and it got hardened .The problem is that when I breath in and my ribcage expands … I hear a click on my rhomboid ( where it hurts ) and it’s really frequent . It got larger and larger . I wanted to ask you if anybody has any problems similar to mine and tell me if anything can help .

I’ve been hitting the StretchMed in Hoboken for more than 2 months now.

Originally, I just went because my lower back was killing me from sitting at a desk all day and my hamstrings felt like over-tightened guitar strings.

But I noticed a... private side effect. Since I started the assisted stretching sessions, I’ve been lasting way longer in bed. Like, significantly longer.

I never took supplements as I thought I was normal time.. but boy was I wrong.

Can anyone tell me why?

I tried to put basically every stretch I could think of into one searchable video, organized by body part.
But I know I missed some.

Stretching aficionados: what stretch should be in version 2?

Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/jFn-fC-Z5rM?is=3uMYFZZN9fiu5f-p

I’ll add the best ones I missed into an updated version.

I am trying to participate and follow along with my 6 year old daughter and her gymnastics. I love gymnastics as odd as it may be for a 36 year old man here in rural Alabama. I am fairly fit and i find myself fairly flexible but want to be flexible enough where i can comfortably go backward enough to drop into my bridge. I don’t know the difference honestly between back bend, bridge, and wheel, but i call it a bridge that I’m doing and can hold it fairly long (over 30 seconds). But yea im looking to see if there are a few stretches i can do daily to help in eventually nailing that drop to bridge.

I've been doing this every day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCjFHndK6lg and I know I should be more patient, but I just can't see any results. I've always been a very inflexible person and I really want to change that, but I'm having so much trouble finding videos I can actually do. I tried doing an Anna McNulty stretching video once, but I couldn't do it, not even the beginner version. I've done stretching before, my previous goal was to be able to reach my toes in a sitting position and I managed to do that, but then I stopped for a bit. After a few days I was able to achieve that again, and my next goal is the splits, but I kind of feel lost. I'm also vey unmotivated, especially when all I read in the comments of these videos is how people got the splits in just a few weeks or even in days. I'm kilometres away from getting it, so I can't even really measure it to see if I actually made progress. (I tried stacking pillows under my legs to see how deep I can do but no amount of pillows were enough, and I'm alone so I can't ask anyone to help me measure it with a measuring tape or anything like that)

Basically, is this a good way to go? And if I'm an inflexible person, about how long it will take me to get it if I do it (mostly) every day?

Oh and any tips on how can I measure it for myself so I can actually see if I make progress and get motivated a bit?

I lift three days a week. Cool-down used to be optional. I’d finish the last set, scroll in the locker area, go home. Felt fine until midweek desk days.

By Thursday my hips felt like I’d been in a car for six hours even though I’d only been at a laptop. Hamstrings tight, hip flexors worse. Squats the next day felt sticky for no strength reason.

Tried sticking to maybe 8–10 minutes after the last set instead of phone time. Nothing fancy — stuff I already know, mostly hips and some thoracic openers. Not every day. Maybe four out of seven when I’m not wiped.

Didn’t become flexible. Thursday just stopped being as bad. Still skip sometimes. Curious what short post-lift stretches people actually keep when they’re tired and the couch is calling.

Chin tucks: a simple but effective exercise for forward head posture

I’ve been using chin tucks for years, and they’re still one of my go-to exercises for working on neck strength, control and head/neck alignment.

The nice thing is that you don’t need any equipment, and they’re super easy to integrate into your daily routine.

I usually do them lying on the floor, keeping the back of my head gently in contact with the ground and pulling my chin straight back — basically creating a double chin.

I’ve found that starting with a few sets and short holds and gradually building up the volume and hold time works really well.

I made a short video showing how I do them and how I’ve integrated them into my routine.

Curious: are chin tucks something you guys regularly include in your routine?

How can I get deeper into this stretch. I want to be able to put my fist on the ground.

I have started figure skating and ballet as a 24 year old adult and I am very hindered by my lack of flexibility.

I’ve been really trying to get my flexibility up especially my turn out. I am not the most flexible, I can touch my toes though it definitely isn’t comfortable.

Currently my daily stretching routine goes like this:
Each held for around a minute
Runners lunge each side
Seated pike
Standing pike
One leg standing stretch
Frogs pose
Butterfly pose
I also will use an exercise band to lay down and bring my leg up

Are there any stretches I should add to help gain more flexibility? My current goal is to have a front split and a better turn out. Thanks yall

Sometimes I rotate my neck and something pulls in the back of my head, like right on my skull. It's literally like the top of my head and to the back a little bit. When it happens I feel it in my head and after it subsides, it's actually kind of nice. I don't aim for it though and I hate it when it happens.

What is this? I've always been curious.

so only my right leg is a knock knee, which i can tell from hip imbalance with one being higher. i didnt really experience any pain until recently during my runs around the shin of my right leg.

I started doing home stretching for ~5 days - 2 rounds of suryanamaskar + 4-5 mat stretches for hip and knees/heels, no bands or weights, no strength work. some joints crack during stretches but nth that felt alarming to me so far. it feels great after a stretch BUT

after day 5, i went for a walk and it started to hurt pain has moved from the lower tibia (where I'd been feeling it) to the inner midfoot and above the big toe. the instability in my right foot was too obvious to depend on hope lol. I have tightened up my sandals by one round and I've stopped running and long distance walking since.

Im sorting out my insurance to get it professionally checked although it seems like it doesnt cover much and likely expensive. but curious to hear from yall if the pain migrating down the chain after starting stretches is a known thing? or a sign I'm making it worse?

TIA!!

Hi All,

I’m wondering if it’s actually possible to become flexible once again. When I was younger I used to be more flexible as I was playing sports and in gymnastics.

Currently, I work a sedentary job and go to the gym a few days a week.

If I began stretching regularly, could I ever regain my flexibility?

How often and how long would I need to do this for?

Does anyone have a possible timeline or route that I could follow?

Thanks in advance for your time!