5 Things I Wish I Knew For Getting Flexible!

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These 5 rules can help you get started with getting more flexible whether you're a beginner or make better progress when you're advanced. Put the time in, remain consistent, and be patient; good things will come!
GUIDES:
"Bendy Big 5" Flexibility Moves: • The Bendy "Big 5" | Fl...
Beginner To Advanced Flexibility Levels: • How Flexible Are You?!...
DAILY ROUTINES:
5 Min Morning Mobility: • 5 Minute Morning Mobil...
15 Min Beginner Full Body: • 15 Minute Beginner Str...
20 Min Full Body: • 20 Minute Full Body Fl...
30 Min Full Body: • 30 Minute Full Body Fl...
60 Min Full Body: • 60 Minute Full Body Fl...
Daily 7 (Short): • My "Daily 7" Stretches...
Daily 7 (Long): • My "Daily 7" Stretches...
"STRENGTH" STYLE ROUTINES:
~Follow Alongs~
Loaded Flexibility: • 30 Minute Weighted Fle...
Pancake: • 25 Minute Pancake Flex...
Front Split: • 30 Minute Front Split ...
Middle Split: • 30 Minute Middle Split...
~Routines~
Front Split: • Front Splits | Do It R...
Loaded Front Split: • Front Split Loaded Mob...
Middle Split: • Middle Splits | Do It ...
Loaded Middle Split: • Middle Split Loaded Mo...
Pancake: • Pancake Stretch | Do I...
Hamstrings: • Hamstring Stretching |...
Loaded Hamstrings: • Beginner Hamstring Fle...
Shoulders: • Overhead Mobility Rout...
Another Shoulders: • Overhead Shoulder Mobi...
MUSIC BY:
www.epidemicsound.com/
See you in the next video!

[@jonrobbin170]

Tom your 15 min morning stretch routine has been part of my daily practice for the past two years or so and I must say it is definitely helped change my life for the better. If you’re ever wondering if you made a difference in anybody’s life, I can confirm you have at least one. I just want to Thank you sir.

[@tekashisun585]

same here

[@logiclanguagelearningFrench]

I used to be a professioanl dancer. Here are some golden rules of mine for stretching: 1 ) I cannot tell you how important being warm is… this means general body temperature. 2) massage is key. Foam rollers. Wooden tools. A partner’s thumbs. Massage your tendons and muscle mass into softness before attempting developmental stretches. Likewise massage when done 3) understand joints vs tendons. Anything cut split side split does nicely when you’ve oiled up those hips. Even if that’s standing still and hula hooping. Get synovial fluid warm 4) for split Do not obsess over front leg. Obsess over hip flexor 5) back leg stretch in both parallel and turned out It’ll get you to oversplit really quickly 6) acknowledge if you’ve done strength work which will have tightened any of the muscles you’re working in your stretch targets and counter stretch those before you finish your session. 7) strength beats gravity. If you can use your muscles to try and open your leg as opposed to say sitting in a painful frog. This works. 8) move. Gentle ballistic isn’t the enemy people say it is. 9) breathe like a MO FO. Have a stretching playlist. 10) never stretch a part of your body used to hold you up and expect the best results. Touching toes is great maintenance but get your ass on the floor and then you’d body won’t be confused by having something trying to stay turgid and engaged being pulled 11) turmeric and Epsom salts are God’s work 12) don’t pretend you’re symmetrical . Leave a stretch when you’ve reached a point of ease. Not a position. Breathe. 13) use your bed. Rear leg on bed behind you front leg on floor is great way to do a supported move into split. You won’t split if you’re fighting to stay up or in pain. Then move to splitting across the bed. Soft mattress helps Then to pillow under groin on floor. Then flat split then pillow or leg under front leg for oversplit. 14) I personally think longer holds less often beat thirty seconds every day. Normalise that poison within you R O M. 15) never and I repeat never unless you literally have hours to live with sepsis allow anybody to give you the antiobiotic ciprofloxacin or your athletic life will be over. Good luck x

[@darkrai526]

crazy seeing one of your posts and this sounds like great advice. used to watch your videos for my french class like 4 years ago!

[@KyrEsque]

I'd be interested to hear more about this last point - I had a bad reaction to cipro, and I am also a stretchy athlete who was worried about side effects.

[@logiclanguagelearningFrench]

@@darkrai526 it’s a sign to learn French again !

[@logiclanguagelearningFrench]

@@KyrEsque I don’t know if I’m in an emotional position to talk about it. Perhaps it’s also best you don’t know. Are you okay now ?

[@lexskywalker6373]

This resonated so much. Not only do I need all the experienced insights I can find on flexibility post THR, but I literally lived through the anomalous situation you described at the end, when I was in a multi-organ failure induced coma. Thank you for sharing👊💚

[@toho1343]

Fancy doing a 30 days of flexibility on KZbin? Great video.

[@fabiann89]

Yes please

[@BodyweightWarrior]

Challenge accepted, have been designing something along these lines for a short while

[@toho1343]

@@BodyweightWarrior amazing! I look forward to it! I've just finished hips and hamstrings and feel much better!

[@natik111]

@@BodyweightWarrior based on point #2 I'd expect a "30 months of flexibility"

[@jennaripley]

Heck yes PLEASE

[@RetroSkreamerz101]

You, Adriene, and Mady Morrison have been part of my routine for the last 39 days and my God I'm so glad I started. Thanks for all you do for us and yourself. And happy new year!

[@aaronag7876]

Needing both flexibility and stretching to help me get started on strength training. It gets harder as you get older but is so important to keep active with this training and adding yoga. Thanks for sharing

[@robhobgob84]

Point 4 was my biggest learning, really easy to get fixated on the point of tightness as an assessment of progress.

[@RamssesPharaoh]

Thank you for the reminders for 3, 4, and 5. We are so grateful to you.

[@alexherrington4361]

I've been a classic case of tight hip flexors and lower back, with weak lower abs and glutes. It's caused me problems running until I came across your channel! Thanks so much for all the work you do - it's been life changing for lack of other words. I still struggle to stretch out my lower back properly - is there any chance you could do a stretching routine that particularly targets this area? You're the best!!

[@bruce-le-smith]

Excellent advice as always, thank you

[@RandyBasics]

Thanks for the tips Tom. I've been doing your follow alongs for 3 years now and the process has been very slow. It's good to know I need to incorporate other things other than just the follow along.

[@yojeffschott]

Greetings from Kentucky! Tom, I am so happy to have found your videos. You have a way of delivering your information without preaching to us. It's encouraging to hear you remind us that each one of us is at a different level of flexibility and that we can choose what works for us. Thank you!

[@TravellingSeb]

Happy new Year Tom, wanted to say thank you for your videos. They helped me through covid really well. Also your vids calm me. They are awesome. Hope to meet you one day. Stay healthy

[@CalJonel]

Fabulous tips! Thank you. 👏🏾

[@FlavioCadamuro]

Very helpful mate. Thank you

[@davidrioux611]

Great Summary!

[@callumgrant2596]

Great advice. Thanks 🙌

[@loukes116]

Awesome talk man. 2023 for me is the year of doing. Let's get it!

[@gigomanning]

Yess new video from the one and only Tom!!

[@ericpatterson5050]

Hey Tom Always good to see you! Have a great New Year! 🙌🏾😊🕺🏽💜

[@ninadsbhatt100]

Always good to know a thing or two about flexibility.

[@davidrioux611]

This is one my favorite videos from you

[@abhistraj4284]

Great information

[@sensam6155]

Each point you mentioned also applies to strength training, cardiovascular training, and combat sports training. Probably also to everything else, too! As Miymoto Musashi said, ''if you know The Way broadly, you will see it in everything''.

[@azeemali7102]

Amazing, 2nd time watching makes more sense to have an objective approach to #4, good to know.

[@christee299]

Ty for this!

[@kodyduclos5845]

I absolutely love the clips of you sitting in middle splits right in the middle of the gym with all the weight bros 😅👌🏼😎

[@JungseHandbalance]

I really appreciate you giving me advice.

[@jeromerussellewis]

Great video good informations especially for newbies to flexibility like myself I’ve watched quite a few of your videos while on holiday which have given me a good insight to flexibility training which can be quite daunting. My aim is to become fitter and more flexible by November 2023 which will be my 55 th birthday, due to driving london buses for the last seventeen years its lead to health and flexibility issues . Ive been doing some easy flexibility exercises and and noticed a difference in the last few weeks. Thanks again for all your good work have a marvellous new year. Ps I’ve downloaded your app which is good 😺🙏👍

[@sashd765]

Great stuff and happy New Year mate! Point number 3 is so important. I was reading that in order to get flexible you need to stretch everyday. There is no way for me to do this with everything else going on and paradoxically it made me stretch less out of frustration. Very helpful advice!!

[@BodyweightWarrior]

I found a similar change, I prefer just the 1-2 harder sessions a week and whenever I feel I need it for a relaxed session between

[@flowmotion_sw7616]

great explaination

[@NoRefund17]

Do you by chance, have a routine that you think would be a great all-around flexibility for a martial artist (kicks, strikes, and grappling. All around self-defense skills). The splits routine seems like it would be beneficial, but curious of something more all around specifically looking to increase all kinds of kicks and mobility for self-defense. Would love to see a routine for this if not. Keep up the great work; love your channel.

[@mara4569]

Yes!! Thank you for saying all of this. It's exactly how I felt since I started working on my flexibility and I'm noticing it especially now that I can see I've made progress (nr. 4 is how I can tell it happened!). I'm gonna show it to people around me always complaining about their flexibility ;)

[@leoyu8667]

Gym closed for about 4 days.. perfect time to fully implement these at home!

[@ScorpionMaiden75]

Thank you I appreciate the information as I work a very physical job. ❤🔥🙏👑🙏🔥❤

[@error666notfound]

Nice recomendations! subscribeeeeeeed

[@aaryankirtania]

1. Flexibility is not just stretching 2. Think in months, not days 3. You DONT need to train flexibility daily 4. DONT use the sensation of feeling as a way to assess your progress 5. Progress is not linear

[@laahloo764]

Really love your channel! Thanks for all your help and balanced, honest input! 😊

[@mradjamesable]

Some classic "Knees Over Toes Guy" there. Nice one

[@filipf5651]

Lovely video, i can now do a squat, altohugh my heels don't touch the ground, only the top of the feet..

[@jicalzad]

#5 is the one of the biggest lessons in all facets of fitness/sports/career/life

[@Nunak91]

The biggest game changer is measuring your progress objectively. Before I started doing that I was blind I was bullshitting myself and going nowhere. Measure how far you pushed that block during pancake, how close to floor you are during splits or how far apart are your legs. Write it down! I also noticed it's not the best idea to push further every single time. Sometimes just go to your 80% or so.

[@BuchoRULES]

Good stuff as usual Tom. For me the 6th thing (although related to your 1st thing) I wish I'd known sooner is to treat flexibility exercises similar to strength exercises in terms of movement repetition within a session. A Huberman Lab vid looking into modern sports science studies on flexibility pointed out that doing each flexibility movement/hold once in a session is less beneficial than performing the movement/hold 3 times - essentially doing reps for each flexibility position just like one does in a strength training session.

[@BodyweightWarrior]

@Emmanuelle ⟬⟭ or do 3x60s

[@davidrioux611]

Huberman Lab is an excellent channel

[@rogierius]

@@BodyweightWarrior what does Emmanuele with those two characters mean?

[@YouTrolol]

believe the literature mentioned something about 8-10 minutes per stretch is optimal. additional time stretching saw no additional gains. so I sorted mine up into 3x 1-minute sets 3x a week (9 minutes a week total). for half a minute, i do active stretching, just getting into the position and trying to feel what feels right. if this is hamstrings, it's how I breathe, contract my abs, and adjust my hips to get the needed additional range of motion to reach my head further down my calves/shins. In the second 30 seconds in the set, I do passive stretching, grabbing my feet and pulling myself further into the stretch, often to the point where I'll pulse the stretch (unlock my knees a little, then push back into it), which really hits the CNS.

[@colincampbell3321]

Day 1 of flexibility training. Ive done weights to build muscle in the past (years ago) and went from 180lbs to 220lbs and was very unhappy with my flexibility throughout but never did anything about it. Now im back around 180lbs and would like to build in flexibility and endurance more than muscle mass. I did a few of your short flexibility training videos only to find the 1 hour one after but maybe that will be for next weekend.... or the one after that 🤣 but I will continue with the shorter ones. Thanks for the videos

[@chrispaxford4390]

Hi Tom. I have come across your videos and am looking to try and get flexible as im like a board 😂 which video would you recommend to start with say 5 times a week? Thank you

[@tts3397]

Do you have a video on doing weighted stretching at home?

[@anassazrour7179]

Please make a video on flexibility and knee pain

[@nsiebenmor]

It'd be interesting for you to have a discussion with back doctor Stuart Mcgill.

[@Wil_Dasovich]

do you believe the videos where people do the splits in 30 days or do you think they are being somewhat disingenuous? I cant imagine anyone being able to crush that in 30 days

[@BodyweightWarrior]

Nope, maybe the top percentages and those genetically predisposed to becoming flexible

[@kumamonkumamoto3844]

the most important concept that most people seem to miss about flexibility and mobility training is anatgonist activation in long position of the target muscles, this will relaxed the target muscle within seconds and then you can continue in a deeper improved range of the target muscle with strengthening the target muscles in the stretch position

[@dandogamer]

Oo never heard of this, how do you achieve that?

[@kumamonkumamoto3844]

@@dandogamer I am glad that you are asking. What I will tell you now is worth a lot of money, because there are not many people that have figured this out yet! But this is how the body and muscles are working, so it is just logic to do it like this. When a muscle is contracting, its antagonist is relaxing, it has to, otherwise there would be no movement possible in the joint. So when the biceps is contracting, the triceps has to relax! Very simple but effective concept of nature. The problem is in our society that all the muscles that move a joint are not used for an equal volume and not over the full range. That way one muscle is always contracting and the antagonist is never relaxing! So you get imbalances and muscle pain. If you want to apply this to muscle relaxation and mobility training, all you have to do is to define a target joint /muscle that you want to increase the range of and then find the antagonist muscle to that. Now you just need to move that antagonist / joint in its short endrange, which is equal to the stretch position of the actual target muscle. Then you apply resistance to the antagonist so it has to contract to stay static in the short position. You hold that static contraction of the antagonist in its short endrange for 15-30 seconds. You will feel instant relaxation in the target muscle. If you just want to get rid of muscle pain and muscle tension that’s all you got to do. If you want to increase joint range and mobility, now after you relaxed the muscle, you can begin to strengthen it in the now deeper range with loaded stretching (static / moving / bouncy). For example if you want to relax your calfs after a run, the antagonist to the gastrocnemius and soleus is the tibialis, so the best way is to use a tibialis bar and just hold the contracting 3 x 30s and after that you could do some stretching of the gastrocnemius but you don’t have to. Or if you want to get more range in the hip and hams at the toetouch. All you have to do is to contract the hipflexor and quad in their short end range. So just lay on the floor, extend one leg and raise it as high as you can using your hip flexor, now a Training partner just applys some pressure in the opposite direction, so pretty much try’s to push the leg back down, you just as much so you can still hold the leg static in the same position for 3x30s, you will get i stant results and should be able to get closer with your hands to your toes! The challenging part is the figure out which are the exact antagonists to your target muscle and then find exercise where you can hold a static contraction of the antagonist and apply enough resistance to relax the target muscle. Best way so far is manual resistance with a training partner, like in my hams toetouch example.

[@alxnd_r6345]

Cant wait for my bridge to feel like doing almost nothing. Ive been stretching for last 6 years and here is what can i say about it. There is no rule for stretching or how much you should do it. It depends on your ability to recover and on the amount of intensity you put into your stretching. In the end who cares if it took you 3 or 4 years for desirable level of flexibility? When you start stretching seriously then it becomes something you want to do forever and maintain it. Last year im not doing any regular stretching sessions and my flexibilty is still improving. I do when i feel like it after workouts. Some results: Middle split on a good day. Front splits both legs but one is worse, Full pancake and a good bridge. My goal is to make these positions easy to do with low warmup and then maintain it

[@prabhjotkaurarora1232]

i've done your follow alongs so many time that even when i hear your voice talking my brain is like Move Into Action! 😂

[@declanhughes5608]

I've started yoga to get flexible. Do you think this will work?

[@TheTechNiShan]

beast

[@adrianashby1033]

10 year veteran diver: some short tips we learn about stretching for diving: 30second hold is as good as 1 minute learn about nerve flossing don't be scared to bend your knees when targeting hamstrings try to breathe normally. if you can't reflect on when and why. 15 minutes a day as Jon Robbin said, is perfect stay hydrated and warm basic sun salutation, up dog down dog is a mainstay for everyone always focus on your pelvic alignment when sitting, driving, walking. be mindful of your preferred rotation and work on controlling it. understand the importance of your feet and toes.

[@muffinman8232]

The dog is MVP of this vid

[@brend2ler19]

Do you recommend performing a stretching routine before or after a strength training session?

[@calvinjohannsen6519]

Strengthen and then lengthen.

[@natik111]

My man just lays it out like it is

[@mrnaizguy]

Are you familiar with the Huberman Lab podcast? He got an episode about flexibility where he breaks down the science and basically recommends static stretching 5-7x per week for a total weekly hold time of 5mins with a low stretching intensity is the best way to develop flexibility. That's kind of contrarian to what you say. I'd love to hear your opinion about it.

[@Northwindbreeze]

You did those before bed time, but isn’t bad to stretch when the body isn’t warmed up properly? Thx 1:15

[@lidiaplartus]

I have a hamstring injury that just doesn’t go away and the worst thing is that it repeats itself so I cannot progress much. What do you recommend I do please?

[@omahhumvajragurupadmasiddhihum]

You would know the answer if you weren't so obsessed with your goals... You need to take total rest until it fully heals! You need to focus on therapy, healing, caring for the injury! You're probably too young or never been injured or sick enough to appreciate your health... Your health should be your #1 goal! What's the point of doing splits or whatever if you wreck your body in the process?

[@robertfox4114]

Im 1 year into my middle splits journey. Every ~ 2 months i had to take a weekly break because my knees would start to hurt. Currently 20 cm off the ground.

[@saardayers4572]

Have you tried the middle splits with your toes pointing to the ceiling? I think that's better for your knees :)

[@raheekk8673]

Hope u make series on how to use weights with stretches for each muscle Like legs, where to hold the weights for mid and frontal splits Back for backbend..etc 🤍🤍🙏🏾

[@mockingbirdnightingale7169]

This may sound stupid to other people but something I had to learn was that there's nothing different/wrong about my body that means I can't achieve these things if I put in the work. Granted I'm female so I can't compare myself to male athletes as much but there isnt' anything inherently limited about my actual potential.

[@kultigin]

What about age? Can we really make progress effectively after 50? considering before 50 one was almost like a log.

[@BodyweightWarrior]

Tissue elasticity decreases with age so progress will be slower but I have worked with people into their 60s on splits

[@peterscutti7078]

Do you know of KneesOverToesGuy?

[@praveenc316]

A bit off topic but related to fitness, wish I knew benefits of fasting 😰😰😰😰

[@roronoazoro5398]

Runner's stretch part 1 is my everyday partner after running.

[@3RDWORLDMOMA]

i always wonder how my teachers (all professional contortionists) could go day after day just doing chest stands... they all say to condition more to make the new range feel average 😭I can do maybe just a couple of splits and bridges every week with days off lmao i dont have so many years under my belt

[@thisischris5351]

yum

[@YourHighwayInTheSky]

i dont know how to start :(

[@trumpameri1638]

Hip mobility 1st

[@henrikkarl25]

I see someone has been watching kneeovertoes too.

[@adriaanmorosan]

I am trying to get flexible to do high kicks in Muay Thai😅

[@callsignblaze4388]

“Think In months not days” Me thinking in years…

[@grunow]

PROGRESS IS NOT LINEAR: yeap. I had a hamstring tear in July and now that I have returned to training after having recovered my range of motion is not the same even though it is still acceptable. 😅

[@kungfuzzzz]

#6: I wouldn't do good mornings with weight on my back (1:30 mark). That's how Bruce Lee injured his back.

[@runthenumbers9698]

Do yoga

[@petrucho130]

One more video proving that I will never do a split 😅

[@smithjhonson8362]

Can somebody help me with my flexibility routine. What I like to do my flexibility routine 5 days a week before lifting weights. I would only do stretching for about 30 seconds to 1 minute each stretch for about half an hour. But hearing that using weights can make you more flexible faster would doing that be better then just stretching? if so can someone link me a good flexibility routine or video?

[@covingtoncreek]

6. Flexibility and mobility training is lifelong. This is in the "wish I knew" category. Let things slide until I was about 50. Big mistake.

[@muradb59]

The title misleading never gave any clear concise ideas please do video combining strength with flexibility training this is what I thought this video will show

[@lucasterable]

U know what's funny? It's actually ELASTICITY not flexibility XD

[@gavinmccollum1431]

Happy new year. I was browsing your back catalogue and I rediscovered this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaHIgaCFgNSCjKc I remember that it encouraged me to get rings and a lacrosse ball. I'm curious if the training tools in your bag have changed over time.

[@Lomogrammaton]

Stretching for older non flexible people

[@tomekw6598]

what to do train 2 times peer week and dont see reslts train everyday also dnamic static strech intense or light not see ;/