Can i regain flexibility

New York City-based yoga instructor Shanna Tyler tells SELF that this pose stretches the lower back in a gentle way—plus, it engages your abs, which further supports the lower back. You'll stretch the quads of your bottom leg, your spine, and the glutes and hip flexors of your top leg.

Bend your left knee and use your left hand to pull your left foot toward your butt. Keep your knees together. SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional. Savanna Ruedy. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms by your sides. Exhale as you bend forward at the hips, lowering your head toward floor, while keeping your head, neck and shoulders relaxed.

Wrap your arms around backs of your legs and hold anywhere from 45 seconds to two minutes. Bend your knees and roll up when you're done. Stretches neck, back, glutes, hamstrings, calves. Cross your right leg over your left, and place your right foot flat on the floor.

Place your right hand on the floor behind your body. Place your left hand on your right quad or your left elbow on your right knee as shown and press your right leg to the left as you twist your torso to the right.

If the spinal rotation bothers your back, take it out and simply use your left hand to pull your right quad in and to the left. Stretches hips, back, glutes. Start standing with your feet together. Take a big step forward with your left foot, so that you are in a staggered stance. Bend your left knee and drop into a lunge, keeping your right leg straight behind you with your toes on the ground, so you feel a stretch at the front of your right thigh.

Place your right hand on the floor and twist your upper body to the left as you extend your left arm toward the ceiling. Hold for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Repeat on the other side. Stretches hip flexors, quads, back. Kneel, sit, or stand tall with feet hip-width apart, arms extended overhead.

Bend your right elbow and reach your right hand to touch the top middle of your back. Reach your left hand overhead and grasp just below your right elbow. Gently pull your right elbow down and toward your head. Switch arms and repeat. Stretches neck, shoulders, back, triceps. Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Cross your left foot over your right quad. Lift your right leg off the floor. Grab onto the back of your right leg and gently pull it toward your chest.

Thank you sooooo much for sharing this info, after having a serious health issue approx 4 years ago have been unable move as i used to, now i see light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for posting these yoga poses. Hi Mary, start with a plan of easy steps first. Then you can continue to improve your routine as your fitness level gets better. I could never do reverse table top.

What do I need to work on to work towards it. Thank you in advance. It takes a while to build up the strength and flexibility to hold the pose. Rest your weight on the block and gradually lift your hips as you build strength and flexibility.

Thanks so much. This will get me started again. Being a martial artist, my hip flexors need to stay stretched and strengthened, this information will help me out a lot, thank you.

This looks good to start with. Fifty is here and I need to get out of my slump, of not moving as much. I have struggled with flexibility my whole life, and this workout has helped me tremendously. Thank you so much! Short duration stretches less than 15 seconds and mobility drills hip circles, arm circles, windmills can be used during a warm up routine to increase range of motion and loosen up before training, but this type of stretching is primarily meant to help you reach your current maximum range of motion, not increase it beyond that.

If you want to make lasting changes to your flexibility, long duration deep stretching where you take the time to relax as much as possible will have a greater benefit.

Deep stretching takes time and patience and can be performed after these shorter duration stretches and exercises, or after a brief workout where you are not particularly fatigued. Experiment and see what feels good for your body. When you are stretching to create lasting changes in flexibility, your state of mind is at least as important, if not more, as the stretches you are doing. Sometimes the best way to get rid of stress is to just get started , focus on the sensations you are feeling, and how the feel of the stretch changes as you adjust your posture.

Consider how much time you spend each week sitting at your desk at work, sitting on a couch, staring down at a cell phone screen, or commuting. Even if you perform some type of manual labor at your job, you are still susceptible to chronic injuries and tightness from these sedentary habits.

Now think about how much time you dedicate to training, stretching, and working out the imbalances in your posture. If you are the typical recreational athlete, you are probably allotting between hours a week to focused training or sport. Even if you are at the top end of that range, you probably spend about five times more time being sedentary in postures that are having a negative effect on your flexibility.

You need to mitigate the damage. Take breaks at work at least once an hour to stand up and stretch to avoid some of that stiffness by the end of your workday. I was listed as one of the 5 women over 40 you should be following on Instagram for this very reason!

When it comes to better flexibility, you can certainly hire a trainer, find a good yoga teacher, or search out some local stretching classes at the gym. But even more fun and effective is to search out a comprehensive, guided stretching workout or yoga class online that you can follow along with.

We have a great Minute Total Body Stretch that is the perfect place to start! Find a few good routines and make them part of your weekly activity. Try each of the below stretches, holding for about seconds each and on each side if unilateral. Standing Side Bend.

Reverse Table Top Pose. Happy Baby Pose. Amy on April 30, at AM Reply. Great post! Sharon on February 1, at PM Reply. Hello Kim, My name is Sharon.

I read and enjoyed your article. I am 60 years, and I have been a lifelong health nut for over 40 years. The biggest problem I have with being healthy is heredity.

I have inherited some things that I don't want. Thanks for sharing, and Thanks for your time, Sharon. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.