Velo Dog

Thought I posted this before, but I can't find it, so let's try it again:
I've never been flexible, even as a kid. As I get older, though, I'm becoming really stiff.
The obvious solution is to stretch...but I've done that before, from time to time, with few results (probably because I don't stick with it long enough...). I can't even get into the STARTING positions for many of the stretches in Bob Anderson's book.

I have no relevant health issues, and a decent knowledge of physiology and anatomy (been a runner and cyclist for more than 40 years). I can "listen to my body," as we used to say (it says, "That's as far as I can go!"). I HATE to stretch, probably because I'm so bad at it, but sometimes we have to do things we don't like.
But I'm curious: Has anybody done this and actually seen improvement, or shall I just plan to sit down any time I want to touch my shins?

Agave

Yeah, I'm 54 in a few weeks and have always be tight as a banjo string. I hate stretching but if I don't I'm a mess. It takes me months to see appreciable gain but I know I'm benefiting from it long before I can 'see' increased range of movement. The real down side is that I tighten right back up to square one quickly if I don't sat after it.

I never stretch unless I've broken a sweat, have learned to not push when it hurts but back off a bit and wait for the release and then ease in to it a bit. Warm room, pad, music and I try to just chill...................

I tell my self to man up and have a bit of discipline for god sakes, it's not that hard.

LongT

I'm 63.

I hate it too. And I am very tight. Always have been. I had trouble touching my toes even as a skinny kid. A couple of years ago I had a knee problem. Went to an orthpedist. He said that I had chondramalasia (Maybe sort of spelled correctly) Anyway he said "you're 6-4 and rode bicycles. I'd be surprised if you didn't." Didn't want to smooth my knee cap as it wasn't too bad. Prescribed gong to a rehab place.

The rehab place evaluated me. Said to lie down on my side on the bed with my leg over the side and let it hang loose. Then he said no hang loose don't try to hold it up. I said that I am. He pushed down on my leg and said Wow do you need stretching. Told me stretching is the best thing you can do to help with mobility as we age.

Tried his stretching routine for a couple of months and could actually put my knuckles on the floor with knees straight. Knee pain stopped. But since I don't like stretching I stopped. Knee pain isn't back but I can't really touch my toes again. Thinking of starting again.

Bill

hikeandbike

I play racquetball a few times a week and get on the weights while I'm at the gym. Before I start out I spend a few minutes in the sauna stretching. It feels pretty good to begin a workout, getting warm and loose. I've seen an improvement over the years and I think fewer related sore muscles.

BigAura

Yoga. It's stood the test of time. There are classes, DVDs, youtube videos, and books for all levels. It works, but it does take effort and willpower just like building strength and endurance. To be truly fit you need to build the tripod of STRENGTH-ENDURANCE-FLEXIBILITY. Yoga totally covers flexibility and also helps with strength and endurance. Breathing and balance are also great skills that are part of the practice.

dzrtcat

52 last week...never could stretch even back in Jr Hi before running cross country in track..I've done triathlons, raced pro as a roadie and mtb'r, ran 5 & 10k's regularly back in the day...maybe I'm just lucky to have never had a catastrophic muscle or ligament injury... that being said - I know I have to learn how to at this point in life...maybe a yoga class or pilates? My wife and I have discussed the fact that we need to stretch and learning yoga or pilates will probably be the gateway to stretching regularly later in life.

stringbreaker

We have what they call the industrial athlete class at work and its three time a week for an hour and goes for 8 weeks and its paid. All kinds of good stretching and excercises the teach. A lot of balance stuff too that I never thought about. I took the class last year and it really did help. The company only lets you take the class twice a year and if I were more disciplined I would do it on my own. It was a great class and I was without hip and back pain after about the third week. I'm still not very flexible but I'm going to enroll again in the fall.

DnvrFox

My ITBS has been controlled by stretching, which I do for my lower body daily. Like most of you, I don't like stretching and detest Yoga. After my back surgery, the ITBS started. But, it was stretch or be in continuous severe pain. And, it works. 71yo.

miss kenton

+1
If you stick with it and make the effort, you will be amazed at the gain in your flexibility.

B. Carfree

Every day my back doesn't ache/spasm is a stretching success story. I went through a decade of pain until I took up martial arts and added yoga to improve my form during college. Within months all my painful companions in my ankles, knees and lower back had gone awol. The few times in the ensuing decades that I have lapsed in my routine I have had painful reminders to return to the fold.

CbadRider

My new year's resolution was to do yoga twice a week. After a bit of a slow start, I've been managing to do it for the last 8 weeks and I've noticed an improvement. I have more range of motion in my shoulders and my lower back and hips are starting to loosen up. I noticed more improvement when I did it 3x per week for a while, but that schedule is a bit harder for me to maintain.

I'm also trying to stretch a bit after I come home from a ride, it only takes about 5 minutes and I've noticed I'm not nearly as stiff afterward.

donheff

I am also one of those extremely tightly strung people. I have never been able to touch my toes with my legs straight. If I get in a lotus position my left knee points up at about a 30% angle. One of my brothers is like me the other brother (who never stretched in his life, by the way) could get into a perfect lotus moving only his legs with no assist from his hands. That is genetics. I have read a lot of stuff recently debunking the value of stretching (by stretching I mean actually stressing the ligaments). I have embraced my tendon tightness and instead of stretches focus on gentle range of motion exercises, weight training, and biking.

DnvrFox

+1

The Yoga'ites wil NEVER understand us.

rumrunn6

patience and compliance. don't rush and do it twice a day.

we don't want to hear about how you don't want to do do something that you're asking for advice about doing. (losing my language skills fer sher) don't wanna do it but complaining you s*ck at it? HELLO!! :-) look, if you want someone to kick your ass - this is a good place to get it - hope I helped! :-)

(this from someone who needs a good a*s kicking from time to time)

NOS88

I share the dislike of stretching. I have, however, found it much more tolerable and effective if I do it after the muscle groups are fully warmed up. Sometimes this means sitting in a hot tub or whirlpool for 20 minutes before even attempting to stretch. (I know, life is hard ) Other times, I have to settle for after a long ride and immediately after the hot shower that follows.

rumrunn6

+1 for hot soak and stretching. amazing how much more flexible I get. hot soak; mechanical massagers & a touch of wine, then stretch. oh yeah

bradtx

VD, Everything you don't use, you lose. I'm 60 and stretching is the only way to keep any sort of flex in the body. An easy way of mildly stretching often is act like a cat, a quick stretch whenever you stand from sitting or lying.

Brad

berner

I stretch several times a day beginning first thing in the morning. It feels good and I enjoy doing it. For me, hamstrings always feel tight and it's what I always work on. In the last few weeks, calves feel tight from cycling so I'm working on those also. I believe stretching is a big part of remaining active and mobile.

Philipaparker

Every time I have been injured or had a pain I was given a rehab routine to do for improvement, did I follow it. Sure till I got better then stopped. Now the last few years I do a stretching routine every morning when I get up along with my sit-ups and push-ups. The biggest benefit no back pain, and I have remained injury free. I remember one of the rehab workers saying you want to exercise the joint for a complete range of motion. That really stuck with me so when I stretch or exercise I am always thinking "complete range of motion".

donheff

I think range of motion is the key. Not "stretching" the tendons to try to get more play in them but moving your limbs comfortably throughout their range.

Agave

Quote adjustment complete.

racerjim

53 here, and struggled through some serious lower back pain which flared up every few months or so. I ended up in a PT facility that used a modified form of Pilates to strengthen the smooth muscles, the ones that support the spoine, and got some serious relief. The facility also runs Pilates classes for "the rest of us", focused on lengthening and strengthening the core, and this has made a huge difference for me, both in flexibility and strength/stability. I never realized how much that "core" influenced how the rest of the body operates.

Agave

Re: Core.

Funny how people don't even think about what's holding them up. It sure as heck ain't your spine!

FrenchFit 

Yoga and the P90X stretching routine. 58.5. Like others, I'm tight and never been a fan of stretching, but I like the idea of being flexible. Significant results after 6 months, I've dropped my bars two inches, can look behind me while riding, no stiffness after long rides. My 'discipline' is to dedicate one work-out a week to a yoga/stretch routine.

tinrobot

You're as old as your spine is flexible. Do yoga.