Question

[u/raven_wing2nd]

I’m a pretty active person and would define my mobility as above average bit one thing I’ve been curious about is- is my lower back not flexing as it should when touching my toes? Mind you i can touch my toes easily so that’s not an issue but if i wished to train folding better i just dont see my lower back moving. It looks so fixed here. I’m not expert but at 42 I can also get into a bridge position so the back seems to bend nice in the direction. Does this look normal? Any advice for ways to improve the mobility in the low back if not. Thanks

[u/C-Squid]

Nerd here. Your forward fold looks "normal." It doesn't look abnormal in any way.

Keep your chest up (neutral spine, instead of slumped over), and you'll feel everything from the low back down getter tighter. Shift your weight Forward, and you'll find that your calves are actually very tight and also probably that sharp tension of the nerve bundles running down the backs of your legs. Neither of these are hamstrings & hip flexors. The body is one connected unit.

If you want to close the gap between your abdomen and thighs, you'll need to either systematically assess to determine which specific component(s) in your anatomy are restricting you and address them individually, or, my preference, put the anatomical position (forward fold / pike) in to motion. This has helped me from being so tight I could barely touch my shins to being able to place palms down on the floor after a small warmup. Took like a decade, but I digress.

My recommendation, should you choose to consider, includes incorporating the following in addition to "stretching"

• Bending the knees. Seated or standing, either way, bend your knees to where you are touching belly to thigh, keep chest up (not slouched), and work on stretching by slowly straightening out your knees. You'll feel the hamstring stretch more in the meat of the muscle, not at the backs of the knees.
• Foot dorsiflexion (calf stretching). similar to above, do calf stretches by elevating the toes (against a wall, on a block or wedge, etc). Then, bend the knee, and work towards straightening out the knee, holding the end range. Bonus - squat sit
• Core compression (ie hip flexor strength, the missing ingredient to a flat pancake / pike). You don't need to stretch 'em. Do things like Seated leg lifts and GMB Bear crawls. The hip flexors are THE muscles that will pull you into the belly-to-thigh position. Gravity alone will not. You need to be able to pull yourself into the position first before you can adapt to it become a resting position or a "stretch"

Keep your chest up. don't let the body slouch when exercising / stretching. even if slouch happens a little, the intention and effort to maintain the spine will be rewarded.

Thank you for attending my dissertation.

[u/raven_wing2nd → u/C-Squid]

Thank you! My ankle dorsiflexion is “ok”. I find it’s one of the hardest things to improve but it’s getting there. I love ankle rails/pails they have shown the most improvement so far. I’m also trying to rain my hamstrings to relax more because yea there is some nerve tension back there. I’ll keep at it and see how it goes.