Why doesn`t my right leg do what my left leg does

Not a person

I am doing stretching exercises to aid mobility, it seems to help.

But one thing that puzzles me, is in the extract from the stretches video below:

When she tells me to bring the left foot forward to hands, thats fine, I can do that.

But when she tells me to bring the right foot forward to the hands, I can only seem to bring it halfway towards the hands.

Whats wrong with me!? I`m right footed by the way, if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

thegreatiam

Not a person wrote: »

Whats wrong with me!?

You're a genetic freak, probably some kind of mutant. best to eradicate you from the planet before you develop super powers and kill us all. ;-)

Our muscles do not move and change equally.
You will tend to favor one side over the other, so muscles will shorten or lengthen accordingly.

Seems you just need to put in a little extra work on the right hand side to get the extra flexibility.

My legs and arms are the same.

Do you by any chance lean to one side more frequently then the other. I notice that my right hip tends get leaned on more, so my body leans towards the right side. So i get lots of different mobility and strength issues because of this imbalance

Not a person

thegreatiam wrote: »

You're a genetic freak, probably some kind of mutant. best to eradicate you from the planet before you develop super powers and kill us all. ;-)

Our muscles do not move and change equally.
You will tend to favor one side over the other, so muscles will shorten or lengthen accordingly.

Seems you just need to put in a little extra work on the right hand side to get the extra flexibility.

My legs and arms are the same.

Do you by any chance lean to one side more frequently then the other. I notice that my right hip tends get leaned on more, so my body leans towards the right side. So i get lots of different mobility and strength issues because of this imbalance

The instructor in the gym was telling me that the strong leg compensates for the weak leg in a massive way, telling me to use a machine like this to work on the weaker leg:

http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/8/a/8a410_ORIG-4232_002.jpg

So maybe I do lean to one side, haven`t noticed.

thegreatiam

it might not be strong vs weak legs, but the flexibility of muscles associated with them.

For example you may have tight calves or a tight lower back. which would mean that your ham string cant move as far on one side.

Keep stretching, use dynamic stretches for your whole body as well as static (yoga) stretching concentrate a little extra on your weaker side but do the whole body and you might get results. (takes ages tho)

n1ck

Get two weighing scales, put them side by side and stand on them, one foot on each. You'll be surprised how much you lean on one foot.

thegreatiam

n1ck wrote: »

Get two weighing scales, put them side by side and stand on them, one foot on each. You'll be surprised how much you lean on one foot.

wii balance board will show this too

Hanley

Simple things like how you stand and sit are habit forming. Most people sit with one leg crossed over the other 99% of the time. One leg forced to externally rotate, one to internally rotate.

These habitual positions are something the body adapts to, and irregular movement patterns and capabilities form.