5 Reasons You Can't Get Flexible

[@Uprighthealth]

What have been your biggest flexibility challenges? Drop a comment! 👉Get a FREE program to rebuild your mind and body! Get Body Rebuilding Basics Now! uprighthealth.com/brb

[@stevenlake5278]

@@Uprighthealth ok my friend, the canadian . Health care is horrible. I had to fight my way too get better. Love your channel and all the people you help.

[@brendajeannewyche2294]

Thank you very much.❤️❤️😊

[@donnabrandon192]

I have been teaching yoga for 28 years. When people come to class for the first time, they are reminded that what their age is, also how long it took them to become stiff. We are likened to a closed rose, and with repetitive practice, we open slowly, similar to a rose opening. Flexibility is a gift you can give yourself.

[@watchmen6504]

Remember the days when movement wasn't near as complicated? As I've approached my 50s I've been shocked at how difficult simple movements like squatting and walking with a healthy gait pattern have become.

[@brendajeannewyche2294]

At least two years. Thanks for giving me that time frame. I’ve attempted getting my splits many times but given up after maybe 3 months or so, accepting that I’m just not flex enough for splits. It really helps to have a realistic timeframe for our goals.😊

[@86beeman]

I needed to hear this. I am 66 years old and have never had good flexibility. Grew up playing hockey and running. My career as a LEO meant years of long periods of sitting in cramped quarters. I do 30 minutes of "stretching" 3 - 4 days week before my workout. I have made minor progress with my stretching and I know my lack of range of motion is limiting my gains in my workouts. I am pleased with the gains I've made in mobility, strength and conditioning but I know I could be much farther ahead. I'll check out the posted links. Thank you.

[@RacerX888]

Former martial arts teacher here. If you want to get flexible, follow these steps. 1. Stretch regularly. Start slowly and don't overstretch in the beginning until the muscles get used to being stretched. As you get used to the exercises, start to push harder. As long as you are not in "pain", which is different than the feeling you get from stretching, then do it EVERY DAY for at least 20-30 minutes. Kung fu masters teach to stretch daily and for extended periods and it has worked for centuries. 2. Most people cannot stretch because their stomach is in the way. Learn to suck in your stomach when stretching and hold it. If you get your abdominals out of the way, you can bend over and touch your toes much easier. Start by touching your toes, with your legs locked straight. Eventually work the stretch until you can put palms on the ground, and then start moving the palms further and further behind you when stretching. Ab exercises are essential for being able to stretch correctly. 3. Make sure you are relaxed when stretching and that you warm up your joints before any stretching exercises. Also do the joint warm up exercises again after stretching. That and regular practice will turn you into a rubber band in a few months.

[@Uprighthealth]

This is great for those who start young and early and those lucky adults for whom static stretching alone works. Great advice on training abs as well. Relaxing into stretches, however, won't be the panacea for the unlucky portion of the adult population who have stubbornly WEAK muscles that cannot safely eccentrically contract! So if constant relaxation doesn't do it for you, make sure you address some of the other tactics we discussed in the video (REASON 4).

[@RacerX888]

@@Uprighthealth Absolutely correct. I was just giving the standard teaching advice for martial arts.

[@gottes1stsenpai30]

So cool that you really used the time to talk to the doc about several different things!

[@Uprighthealth]

Still more to come! 😀

[@timferguson2682]

You're always helpful (when I actually follow your advice). Those remaining 0.075 folks need to subscribe and give you a milestone for your work.

[@timferguson2682]

0.075 million people. They are hitting the subscribe button. I can feel it.

[@dotjeff4543]

I find resistance stretching (eccentric contractions) is an amazing way to get more flexible. This loosens the fascia which makes permanent changes in flexibility.

[@kdcbattlecreek]

Shortened tendon due to spasms/illness. I can stand and put heel down, but walking I go up on my left toes. I'm told this may be permanent, but I've seen slight improvement if I'm consistent. Heel strike is improving. All these are true!

[@alejandroflores2355]

this is a great video and I find it fascinating that there is so much shared terminology and concepts (time under tension, end ranges of motion, progressive overload, etc.) between flexibility and muscle hypertrophy training.

[@anthonyb3940]

It’s a slow process and you have to be so dilligent. Just keep doing it. Trust thy process.

[@meganhenry5795]

Your mobility is everything. A body in motion, stays in motion.

[@JerrolGW2]

Can we get the loaded stretching video and a breakdown (explanation) of these exercises demonstrated in the video please?

[@stacyrynd7110]

It’s time for me to change things up a bit and set aside a dedicated time for stretching rather than just a few stretches willy nilly during the day. I think for people who may have underlying conditions it’s best to not set distant goals but to simply set the goal of ingraining an exercise routine as a habit. Two years of consistent cardio and strength training have yielded only subtle improvements in strength, endurance and pain reduction. Where I did make improvements is in reducing the depression that often accompanies a body that doesn’t work as well as we’d like, as well as in blood pressure and lab bloodwork.

[@Angelgrl]

Hi, thank you both ❤😊 Great & very helpful video 😊

[@victoriadrummond2506]

Thank you for your videos!

[@Uprighthealth]

Thanks for watching!

[@pattjoseph103]

Thank you so much Matt, this discussion was so helpful and encouraging. My doctor has advised me that at 68yo I need to do daily stretching. Do you have a stretching routine to get beginners started?

[@JJBpilot]

My issue has always been my sciatic nerve. Didn't know until recently that the pain when trying to stretch hamstrings was actually ny sciatic nerve behind and below my knees. Flossing now, and straight back feeling the hamstrings actually stretch! Weighted stretches are helping.

[@soniagroen6666]

Thank you for the well-explained and demonstrated videos, Matt. My practice is now strongly influenced by Postural Restoration because it addresses bodily imbalances which is the key point in my view.

[@watchmen6504]

This was a very encouraging conversation. As always, thank you Matt!

[@CoachMike55]

flexibility, mobility, stretching, release, time under load, planes of motion, modalities. all enough to make your head spin. as the tin man, and following upright health over the years, I am more flexible, or should I say more mobile than I was two years ago. but I am working against a lifetime of stiffness: at 25 i was in the 90 percentile for cardio, and the 20th percentile for flexibility. anyone remember the ruler between the legs and push the wood square down the ruler? ugh. I couldn't even touch my toes when I came out of the womb. for us stiffs, there are two problems: 1. if we cannot afford a trainer(that's me, and good trainers are wonderful) then there are no eyes to monitor improvement and 2. measuring flexibility/mobility improvements on your own are difficult. I always use the example of a bicep curl. if week one I can curl say 5 pounds, and week two i can curl 7 pounds, that's a numeric indicator of success. easy to track. even if I improve my stretch by a half inch, I would be overjoyed, but unlikely to see that improvement. trusting the process is of course critical, but a tough ask when you're a measure person and no significant measure is possible. Flexibility gains for stiffs like me take a long, long time, and I get that. this was another good video and many of your flexibility videos are excellent. I'll stick to the process and when I reach my toes the roar will be heard from coast to coast

[@Uprighthealth]

Looking forward to that ROOOOOOAR!

[@CoachMike55]

@@Uprighthealth 👍

[@donnabrandon192]

Try bending your knees, folding first forward, then inward top of head toward floor. After repeated practice, 3x a week you can gradually start to straighten the legs, gradually, and it can take as long as it took you to become inflexible. The key is repetition. Try a yoga class.

[@bobbyp8221]

Thank you for putting out excellent informative content....beyond helpful.

[@Uprighthealth]

Glad it was helpful!

[@michaelkinsella3514]

Excellent video.

[@beatricemarie7880]

My biggest flexibility challenge? Trying to bring my left foot up to my knee so I can clip my toenails. Any suggestions on specific things I can do? No problem with my right leg, fortunately.

[@FrozenSunshine-plk]

Main reason - pain. It's very hard to find a balance maintaining flexibility and strength with chronic inflammation.

[@barrycrawford1117]

I want that video…

[@dramatika116]

How to find the time to do all these exercises

[@Uprighthealth]

You will be amazed at how much free time you have when you cut out unnecessary time wasters. 😀 kzbin.info/www/bejne/paqZkHxvmKx7eLssi=WZ0qfL1elv_EhvoM

[@lindafox9006]

17:13 I’m trying to reconcile your advice with that of my first PT visit. Postop Laminectomy on L5 /S1. I’ve been given 5 stretching exercises that are challenging. Slight backbend, ham stretch, quad stretch, double knee to chest stretch, and piriformis stretch. All on the bed except for the standing backstretch. I’m a 72-year-old female somewhat sedentary. Do you have any videos on postop flexibility training? Shouldn’t I be trying to learn what caused the discrimination in the first place and change that behavior? She said no because it is age related.

[@Uprighthealth]

Beware the Physically Feeble Fallacy: www.uprighthealth.com/blog/physically-feeble-fallacy

[@stevenlake5278]

If you want to get flexible stop stretching rule number one

[@Uprighthealth]

...?

[@stevenlake5278]

@@Uprighthealth you will gain the most from , full range of motion, symmetric holds.I just mean it's always more beneficial to have muscle activation. Rather then Passive stretching. From my Experience and safer.

[@Uprighthealth]

@@stevenlake5278 That is true for some people. But, as we noted in the video, there are some people whose bodies do wonderfully with static stretching. Gotta learn how your own body responds to different "stretch" stimulus. For me, loaded stretching (muscle activation!) works waaaay better than just plain static stretches.

[@stevenlake5278]

@@Uprighthealth Yes, I agree.Everybody's body is individual.You have to find what works for you.I find active stretching is much more safer and the results are much better. I did martial arts for years and hurt myself very badly from doing Passive stretching.

[@marvfj6451]

WTF??