I think I am in OK shape, or at least I am not very fat (<31in waist), but I can't touch my toes. I don't really stretch everyday, but I stretch when i am doing squats or running. However it seems like girls who are out of shape have an easier time touching their toes. How do you go about increasing your flexibility and why is it easier for girls to touch their toes?
I can touch my toes, but I can't hold them down there. I'm not in great shape or flexible. In my best shape I usually was touching to tops of my shoes when holding the stretch.
Yes. Stretching and staying flexible is essential if you want to stay at a high level of athleticism....not to mention it reduces the chance of injury. You should take at least 5 minutes everyday just to stretch your muscles.
Being "fit" isn't always a good indicator of range of motion, especially for athletes. Some people don't do anything athletic-wise, but that may help them keep their range of motion because they never "hold" a position too long, so they stay flexible. For example, a couch potato may just be on the couch, but perhaps they change positions often (lay down on their back, sit, cross one and/or both legs, lay on their stomach, etc) On the other hand, you can have a cyclist who has bad flexibility because they're sitting in the same position. the body becomes really good at it, which is good for the sport, but bad in general. Because of sex positions (only half kidding, squatting helps maintain flexibility) Increasing flexibility: 1) Break down any muscle knots or tissue adhesions you may have. The younger you are, the less chance there is of this, since you have done/experienced less. 2) You must also have balanced muscles. Stretching a muscle means you activate the opposite one, so you need that back and forth relationship to work well to have good flexibility.
Stretching and keeping flexible is one of the best ways of keeping in shape and staying young. Children can fall and don't really get hurt in part because of their flexibility. As people get older their flexibility naturally decreases. So stretching, and staying flexible is one of the best ways of preserving youth. If I could only do one out of stretching, cardio, and weight training, I think stretching is the most important. To maintain flexibility 5-10 minutes a day could probably do it. To increase flexibility spend at least that many minutes in the fully stretched out position or as close to it for each position you are stretching. Longer amounts of time will help more. For instance if you sit in the splits or close to splits position, for a full 10 minutes daily, or even longer such as during an episode of a sitcom, it will help you increase and go deeper toward the splits. If you bend to the toe touching position for that long it will help that become more flexible. The more stretching you can do, the better.
