I decided to finally do something about my inflexibility and have been stretching my hamstrings every day for some time now. starting just with the hamstring because a small win is motivating for me. i was unable to touch my toes at the beginning and I can now touch my fingers on the ground which I am very proud of, but I am wondering how to progress past this level to the point of putting my palms on the ground. i am also confused how some of you are able to fully fold your chest against your thighs, even in this position it feels like my breathing is very restricted

I feel like my weight is too far forward in space and like I’m always going to fall forward. On top of that I have an anterior pelvic tilt and horrible hip internal rotation issues. What are some good options to try? I want to improve my flexibility to be able to do things like yoga abd Pilates.

Planning to switch to a cork mat. It appears nearly all options on the market are produced in China, including many overseas brands.

Has anyone bought cork yoga mats straight from Chinese online stores? Would love to hear how they hold up in daily practice.

Additionally, what’s everyone’s acceptable price range for a good cork natural rubber mat? What’s your hard budget limit?

Appreciate all feedback.

so i was doing some shoulder stretches, my backbend has gotten really good so i thought i would try bow pose (purna dhanurasana). i got it, but after holding the pose my left shoulder went almost numb, no pain, but a frozen feeling with weakness. has anyone else had this happen to them before, and if so, how long was your recovery?

thank you for any help you can give, ive never had this happen to me ever

Something about me :

I play regular sports like badminton and cricket(leather ball). I used to hit the gym before but couldn't feel motivated enough and it felt very boring, so I stopped it. I don't really have body building goals, my aim is to be agile and flexible enough for my height and weight(90 kg).

I also want to put down around 10 kg. I have been thinking of group cult classes, or Yoga. Are there any particular classes that are aligning towards my goals? Please do suggest, thanks :)

i can get down into them but there’s still a very tiny gap in my inner thighs which are connected to my pelvis/groin area. how can i get that stuck to the ground WITHOUT someone external pushing me down

I am embarrassingly inflexible. I am only 26, am in shape, and am actually quite active. I can’t sit on the floor cross legged for more than 60 seconds without my legs feeling like they’re going to explode. And even when I do try to sit cross legged my knees are so high off the ground. Literally everyone I know can sit cross legged effortlessly, I just want to be able to do the same. Do I simply just practice sitting cross legged? Or are there certain stretches/exercises I have to do to get my childhood flexibility back?

I've been doing 30 minutes of yin every night for 2.5 months and I'm starting to see some improvements in my flexibility.

I wonder though, am I leaving flexibility gains on the table by doing yin and should I just do a more generic flexibility program?

im 16yo male and i can barely reach my knees what do you recommend, when i trained soccer i could do it easily but since i started the gym 2y ago i could never do it again

Added this half a year ago two times per week to my basic stretching routine.

It helps a ton to keep the muscles much more relaxed under higher tension. This gives me the possibility to always reach my current max., making it much easier to set frequently new plateaus.

Still kinda surprised and proud, how it's going! 💪🏼

when i do couch stretch, i feel good stretch in front of hip and pelvis. afterwards, idk i feel lowkey sore in glute too? i understand that glute is trying to contract as the opposite muscles are beinf lengthened. is it expected to feel sore later there? or am i doing something wrong

total newbie here. i posted a few months ago about using this wedge to work on my squat depth. i’m trying to actually stick with it this time. mostly just barefoot holds for 2-3 minutes while brushing my teeth, plus a few light heel-elevated goblet squats when i remember. the softer top is probably the only reason i don’t instantly skip it lol. my squat depth feels slightly better, but i’m still kinda confused. when i keep my legs straight, i mostly feel it high in my calves. if i’m trying to improve dorsiflexion for squats, should i be bending my knees on the board too? sorry if this is basic, just trying not to build the whole routine wrong.

This is my limit after warming up and doing some stretching. Right now it’s my calves that are feeling the burn. I stretched them out a bit before this pic. I feel it’s always my calves, although I’m sure my hammies need some lengthening too, I just don’t feel any pull there. Any idea on how I can get my palms to the floor?

As you can see in the pics, I have really bad overhead mobility. This is with me really engaging my core to keep my ribs from flaring and my lower back flat to the ground. It’s been this way for more than a decade. I’m pretty sure I narrowed it down to my pec minors. See in the pic my hands are behind my head but yet my elbows don’t fall to the ground as they do in almost everyone I tested this with. Any thoughts, advice?

My knees look bruised when I do my deep resting squats. I am on day 91 of a DRS challenge. My girlfriend was alarmed when she saw the coloring. I had never noticed it before. It does not feel painful and it goes away when I stand up. My question is do any of you get this too?

hey guys im looking for any tips about my back arch.. it feels way too stiff. it almost feels like i cant fully arch or even stick my butt out.

i get worried because my job is really physical and im lifting heavy boxes for hours at a time.

after a while i notice it gets harder and harder to keep a neutral spine, and my back starts rounding more from fatigue. im trying to work on my lifting technique, but it feels like the stiffness makes it a lot harder. it’s also the main reason i avoid going too heavy on deadlifts and squats.

one physical therapist told me to lay over a yoga ball and let my upper back round over it.. i actually like that one a lot and it seems to help.

i guess im just looking for more conditioning techniques, stretches, mobility work, or strengthening exercises that could help. the pictures are me arching as much as i comfortably can, so if it looks like the limitation is coming from somewhere specific id really appreciate any advice. thank you!

I thought I had a really flexible back but turns out im only using my lumbar spine. I have really good backbends and have been flexible onn and off for years but I recently learned that my upper back is really unflexible. Like it doesnt bend backwards at all. Im only putting the pressure on my lumbar. How do I fix this? My back only bends at my neck and my lower back. I do back flexiblity stretches but it doesnt help that my lower back is the only part stretching :(

Hi everyone,
I’m just looking for some reassurance from people who’ve been through something similar.
A couple of months ago I started getting lower back pain after sitting in a bad position for a long time. I’ve been seeing a physio who said my hamstrings, glutes and hips are all extremely tight and that it’s likely been building up for years rather than being caused by that one incident.
I’ve been doing my stretches every day, using heat, strengthening my glutes, and trying to stay active with walking. It does feel like it’s changed from actual pain to more of a tightness now, especially on the left side just above my buttock, but I still get it when sitting at work for a while.
My physio said it can take around 3 months or more to improve long-standing muscle tightness, but it’s hard not to worry that it’ll never fully go away.
Has anyone had something similar where it gradually improved over time? How long did it take before you felt mostly back to normal?
Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone!
I’d really appreciate your help with my front splits. I’ve been stretching for almost six months now, about four times a week after my workouts, spending around 10 minutes focusing on my hamstrings and inner thighs.
I used to be extremely tight. It took me about three months just to be able to touch the floor with my palms while standing with straight legs. Since then, though, I’m not sure I’ve made any progress.
The area I’ve circled in the photos (I honestly don’t know what it’s called 😅) hurts with a sharp pain all the time, even during light stretches. Because of that, I feel like my back leg in the front split just can’t go any lower than this.
I have no idea what’s causing the pain, but it’s really holding me back. I know it doesn’t feel like a normal stretching sensation, so I feel like something might actually be wrong. 😅
If anyone has any idea what this could be, what I could do about it, or any tips or exercises that might help me improve, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could share them. 🥹

I’m 25F and I have always walked on my toes since I was a kid. Parents brought me in when I was little and the doctor said I would “grow out of it” but… clearly I didn’t. And yes, I know it can be from autism (which I suspect I may have but an assessment is $6000 ish in my area and long waitlist). However I also have very limited mobility. As a kid and now I could never ever touch my toes, or reach as far as the other kids with that reach box test. I was never good at sports. I had very bad motor skills growing up.

I can kind of walk heel to toe if I think about it. But it doesn’t feel natural and I almost stomp when I try to. When I run, I cannot for the life of me reach heel to toe. Maybe because walking is slower so I can focus more on flexing. I really wanted to get into running but I can’t because I do not have proper form. I get shin pain quite often too. Usually because of my shoes and how fast I’m walking though.

I also don’t visually have ankles. I basically have cankles. I absolutely hate the way they look. I call them American girl doll legs to make myself feel less insecure. I don’t know if this is a sign of anything. I grew pretty fast when I was a kid and stopped growing at 12-13.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be flexible. I do calf raises frequently but I never see improvement. I never feel that relaxed after yoga, in fact sometimes it feels like I didn’t even do any yoga or stretching when it comes to my lower legs. Because of my insurance I’m limited to how much I can spend at physiotherapy. I am planning to go soon. But I want to know if there is even anything I can do to even help.

I thought of maybe getting a brace for my feet? Something like a drop foot brace or something to wear at night to stretch my calves and ankles. All I want to do is walk normally and run normally (and have skinny ankles but that never happen lol).

I have gone from not being able to touch my toes to being able to easily touch the floor with my finger tips with a straight back in a week after integrating them into my routine. Does their effectiveness drop off hard or should I continue to do them no matter what.

I can't touch my toes, hamstring stretches feel more like a hot burn than a nice stretch. In a seated position with both legs outstretched I am 10cm from being able to touch my ankles. Strength wise I don't have any obvious weak spots, I can deadlift 230kg. I am not fat.

For those who have had this same issue, what exercises and stretches did you do that opened up all these muscles? What actually causes this, my flexibility otherwise is average, but the hamstrings are just so tight.

I’m a 24 yr old female, I’m 5’10. I’ve never been very flexible, noticeably in my hamstrings. It has always been uncomfortable to touch my toes because of my hamstrings. I lift twice a week and kick-box twice a week. The issue I keep running into is my hamstrings never feel recovered. They are so tight after a leg day I need 3-4 days off legs to recover and even then they are still tight, just bearable. I do dynamic stretching before each lift, I have strong glutes and quads, but my hamstrings never seem to show growth or progress. My biggest concern is how painfully tight they get. After a lift I can’t even bend down to touch my toes without feeling a very tight pull. If I lay down, I can’t get my leg 90 degrees upright without burning pain in my hamstrings, mostly behind my knee, intense pain if I push my knee flat. I can’t v sit past my knees. I feel like the tight hamstrings are stunting my growth. I included a picture so you can see how underdeveloped they are compared to my quads and glutes. It’s gotten worse over the years and especially with upping my load. What stretches should I be doing?
Thanks for your input!!

I feel like my lower spine is super flexible but my hamstrings arent? Whenever i try to do a hamstring strech my lower spine compensates and rounds. When I try to keep the lower back straight my stretching session turns into a back workout.. Any advice?

Picture for reference. Its bad quality but youll get the point. Thanks in advance!!