What will improve my flexibility the best?

M

Mimi17

Member
Specifically in my hamstrings. I swear they were made for someone 2 inches shorter. I am pretty flexible everywhere else, but my hamstrings are always so tight. So, what do you ladies do to improve your flexibility? Yoga? Pilates? Any ideas would be much appreciated.

BTW, hello, I'm new here! I have been using Cathe DVDs for about a year and a half. I stumbled on this forum a few weeks ago and figured I better jump in and say hi!

:)
 
Hi and welcome!

Love your avatar - are those your kitties? :)

Yoga is a great way to improve flexibility (and balance as well). I'm not sure what Pilates would do for flexibility - most Pilates I've seen seems to be more geared toward core-strengthening rather than flexibility, but it still may help some in that area. Also, you may want to get Cathe's Stretch Max DVD - it's awesome! Do one of those routines every day and you should notice improved flexibility.

Welcome again - hope to hear more from you around here! :D
 
Hi there and WELCOME!!!!

I have been able to increase my flexibility tremendously by taking more time after my workouts to really stretch them out...strech all of me out, actually! I usually do the whole body for an extra 15 minutes or so.

For my hamstrings, I sit with the legs out in front of me, thighs, knees, ankles all touching, while I fold forward. The goal isn't so much how far down you can go...focus on pushing your head towards your toes and reaching your fingers past your toes.

This is an awesome stretch that I NEVER leave out. It really helps the lower back and the sciatic nerve, too!
 
Welcome mimi.

I have the same problem with my hamstrings. haha on the 2 inchs shorter person, that's a good way to put it. I have improved a little by just taking lots of time to stretch when warm. I relax into the stretch and hold it for a long time. My favorite hamstring stretch is the one lying on my back with one leg up. I like to use a band or strap or something to hold my foot. But I think what has helped me even more than stretching.... is deadlifts. It doesn't hurt that I love deadlifts. I do them slowly and go down to a point I feel a nice stretch, then slowly return to standing. Of course with my tight hamstrings I have a bend in my knee but I try and concentrate the bend out, focus on the stretch... you know what I mean? After I got my form down on deadlifts I think they are my favorite exercise, and they have really helped my tight hams.

Pam
 
NOTHING has increased my flexibility more than yoga. For hamstrings, a great workout is "Yoga Journal's Yoga for Flexibility" by Patricia Walden. It was originally put out in 1992, but is a bonus segment on "Yoga Journal's Yoga for Beginners" (also P. Walden - Gaiam). It has two approx. 30-minute segments: back bending and forward bending. It's pretty slow, as the poses are held for quite some time. The "vinyasa" warm-up isn't very good but the rest is excellent. When I regularly do the forward bending section, my flexibility increases by leaps and bounds. Patricia is EXTREMELY flexible, though, so make sure you don't compare yourself to her and do the poses at your own level.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!:)
 
Yoga is definitely the best for flexibility. When I got stretch max I did it almost three times a week. I also have tight hamstrings, and doing stretch max made me so much flexible. But know with a hurt foot and not able do some moves, my hamstrings are extremely tight again. I did that segment of stretchmax with the band as good as I could do it.

I would advise to get stretchmax

kim
 
Hi and Welcome!
I have had very good results with yoga. I have a 60 minute tape called "Total Yoga" with Tracey Rich and Ganga White. I think that Tracey White has some new DVD's out now. It was one of my first yoga tapes ... really stretches everything! I find when I do it on a regular basis I feel so much more relaxed too! I also really enjoy Cathe's Stretch Max :) ! Good Luck with your workouts and welcome to the Forum!
Cathy :)
 
Thanks to everyone for their warm welcomes!

Emily - yes, those are my kitties! They were only about 3 months old then, and I did not pose them, they were actually sitting like that! I couldn't believe it.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Looks like I need to add in some yoga on an off day. I do have a couple of the Stretch Max segments recorded from FitTV (side note: isn't TiVo/DVR the best??). I will start doing those regularly as well as the specific stretches suggested. I never thought about dead lifts to increase flexibility ... I like doing those so that is a good option as well.
 
If you have a particular part that is inflexible, like your hamstrings, it's a good idea to stretch after every workout (and add some additional stretches for that body part). Also, if you're REALLY tight, then doing specific stretches for that body part 2x a day (after 5 or 10 minutes of a warm-up) would be a good idea.

Yoga is great for overall flexibility, including the hamstrings.
 
Like almost everybody has said I think yoga is great for improving your flexibility. There are a lot of poses (asanas) to improve flexibility in the hamstring area, "down dog" being the most popular one. Pilates improves flexibility somewhat, but it is mostly in the core area. Yoga and pilates are very different in my opinion. In yoga you hold a pose for a period of time without jerky movements and in pilates you actually do the jerky movements. I love yoga more than pilates. That being said there are no guarantees for actually liking either one of them. Some people like yoga, some people like pilates, some people like both and some hate both. If you end up hating both, then doing athletic stretches is the answer. Like it was previously suggested you can add athletic stretches for 10-15mins after your workouts to improve flexibility.
 
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