Washington Business Daily

flexibility?

I was in dance class last year and was pretty flexible. I would stretch like every day. I haven't stretched now for about 2 months and now it seems like i've lost my flexibility? I can't do the splits anymore and i need to know how to do them for next year! and now when i try to stretch that much it's pretty painful. help pleasee! any tips i can use to stretch? Thanks! are there any specific stretches i should start off with?

Public Comments

1. yoga, hands down! I am natrually pretty flexible which looks kinda weird on me because im a really curvy latina but ive played sports my whole life, and ive always felt that i was really flexible because i could do the splits any random way. But when i took a yoga class, man oh man ive never felt so inflexible in my whole life!! everyone was like a freakin pretzel, but by 6 weeks into it i was just as pretzel-y it really loosens you up and makes you really flexible, plus it was soothig and fun, so i would recommend yoga. Good luck!
2. like what she ^^ said, YOGA. also, aside from yoga have a really good stretch once a day. it helps!!
3. That happens when you don't stretch for an extended amount of time. As previous answerers said, yoga is a good idea. I would suggest taking it one step at a time; start out slow with daily stretches---do NOT do too much at once; I know from experience that doing too much stretching after not doing so for a long time will really hurt your body.
4. I would definitely just stretch long and hard. Do lunges, warrior poses, straddles, pikes, etc. If you can, recruit someone to help push you, so you'll go down farther. I find that the best way to get better splits is "hang" them. To do this, find a mat or some elevated surface and put one foot there, and one foot on the ground. Then, well, hang! (: Best of luck. Oh, and remembe: stretching should be UNCOMFORTABLE. the moment it HURTS, stop, and go easy on yourself. Also, if you're sore, the answer is NOT to just laze around and hope it goes away. To get rid of soreness, you must STRETCH. But don't push yourself too hard. Take it slow. (: Hope this helps!