help stretching

jogdish

Hi,
Office worker, and I have all the issues of tight hips/hamstrings etc. I am trying to stretch and I can feel some benefit but I am finding the actually stretches very difficult and hard to maintain.
Can anyone recommend some way/type of stretching for a total newbie, with very limited flexibility ? Perhaps some piece of equipment would help ?

granty1987

google "mobility wod" or "mwod" + whatever bodypart ails you.

Should get several good videos from a guy called Kelly Starrett - he knows his stuff. Basic equipment that you'd need would be a ball of some sorts, a elastic band (rough size of a tennis ball) or a foam roller if you have one to hand.

The couch stretch is unreal for your hip flexor. (skip to 2:00 for it)

Alf Veedersane

Limber 11 is yer only man

scrumqueen

Check out www.romwod.com they have a 7 day free trial and if ya like it you can subscribe for a small monthly fee.

stratowide

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Limber 11 is yer only man

This^^^^^
I started this about a month ago.I do this three times per day,once in the morning when I get up and before and after excercise.
I was literally like a board beforehand.Slowly but surely I started to loosen up.

The trick is to do it EVERY day.I even brought the foam roller and hockey ball on holidays for the week.

The difference in workouts is huge.Running especially became easier as did everyday tasks.

Just keep at it.

Mellor

scrumqueen wrote: »

Check out www.romwod.com they have a 7 day free trial and if ya like it you can subscribe for a small monthly fee.

There's no need to pay for this kind of stuff.
Not sure what the benefit could me.

size5

Agree with Stratowide consistency and patience is key. One other piece of advise is breathing I have seen huge improvement in my mobility with breathing drills. Not sure of the exact science but was shown some breathing drills improvements have been huge.

Transform

Mellor wrote: »

There's no need to pay for this kind of stuff.
Not sure what the benefit could me.

^^^ totally agree, keep in mind that mobility AND stability is required so make sure you're working both

kal7

maybe have a look at PNF stretching, it is a style of stretching that is more complicated but can be be very good for stubborn areas like hamstrings. Used by physios and osteopaths who would coach/talk through/assist the PNF stretch with clients.

agree with the consistency, stability and breathing comments.

dastardly00

+1 for Mobility WOD and Kelly Starrett.

I haven't seen the Limber 11 video but I will try it out. Looks good.

Mellor

dastardly00 wrote: »

+1 for Mobility WOD and Kelly Starrett.

I haven't seen the Limber 11 video but I will try it out. Looks good.

Limber 11 is a warm-up mobility routine
Mobility WOD is more like maintenance

Achieving extreme flexibility, will require a different approach again.

dastardly00

Mellor wrote: »

Achieving extreme flexibility, will require a different approach again.

That'd require something on the order of a miracle in my case :pac:

Mellor

dastardly00 wrote: »

That'd require something on the order of a miracle in my case :pac:

Probably not a miracle. Just a ridiculous amount of work and a shtload of pain