Stiff and unable to get started

jogdish

Hi,
Okay, I am at a loss with myself after reading and watching youtube videos I can only come to the conculsion I am unable to bend in certain ways.


I am male, 6ft, mid 30's some weight but not that much. After trying yoga/streching I have observed the following perhaps/hopefully it will allow someone here to diagonse what exactly I should work on that I actually am capable of:

• Uanble to sit on ground with legs flat, its like my back has no more room to bend forward - no pain or anything, just no room to move.
• Sitting in a chair crossing my right leg over left, its hard to move the leg over the knee and just feels unconfortable.
• Sitting on the edge of the bed putting on socks, if I try to light my leg towards my chest and lean forward to put the sock on its not comfortable and my leg is trembling with the stress.
• childs pose/downward dog etc...

That's what I notice in my everday life. Please don't think I'm a cripple, I can manage alight gym session and a swim with no pain. But honestly would love to be able to do some of the stuff I see (mainly) women do in the gym strecthing wise. I know being limbre is as important as cardio/muscels.
Currently I try to do yoga for beginners online (attended a class before) but I just end up unable to do the basic positions and just really confused what to work on to help me move forward.


Very rambling sorry, just looking for REALLY REALLY back stuff to work at to help improve the above bullet points.

dastardly00

OP, I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with you.

You sound like a normal enough bloke who has poor flexibility.

It takes time and patience but you will get better.

Do you spend most of your working day sitting at a desk?

jogdish

dastardly00 wrote: »

OP, I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with you.

You sound like a normal enough bloke who has poor flexibility.

It takes time and patience but you will get better.

Do you spend most of your working day sitting at a desk?

Yup, very much a desk worker !


Do you have any advice on strecthes to start that don't leave me feeling dejected that I will never in a million years do the fancy poses?

milli milli

Hi OP

My first yoga teacher’s catchphrase was ‘bit by bit’, meaning don’t be hard on yourself as it can be a slow process. Some people are naturally very flexible, others not so much, women are more flexible than men, but as we get older and lose the collagen and elastin in our muscles, we can stiffen up. Also desk jobs are notorious for tightening up certain muscles.

Years ago I went to a physio for lower back pain - as it turned out the pain was caused by tight hip flexors and he gave me a series of exercises to do to loosen them up. It was like a revelation to me - all my years of having a dodgy back was cured by stretching the correct muscles!
Then I found out I had tight hamstrings from a sport I did. I did some hamstring stretches and also asked my yoga teacher for advice. There were a couple of poses in the class that I just couldn’t seem to progress in.

So I decided to start a daily stretching routine that would cover the hamstrings, hip flexors and any other things that I felt I needed to stretch. I think this might be your answer to gaining flexibility - I wasn’t the most inflexible person in the world, but I found I needed to practice consistently in order to keep whatever I was gaining from my yoga classes. Now several years later, my flexibility is really good and I can see the progress that I’ve made. I remember years ago sitting on the floor in a martial arts class with my legs out in front. Despite being super fit I didn’t have the back (or ab) strength to keep my back up straight. It felt like the world was pressing down on my shoulders. Now I can easily hold my back upwards. You will see progress, it might be slow but you’ll see it.

I’d recommend going back to a beginner yoga class - maybe not a ‘flow’ class but something like Iyengar where the poses are held in isolation and for a longer time. Also don’t be looking around the class comparing yourself to others, everyone is on their own yoga journey.
But supplement the classes with your own stretching routine. This was the turning point for me. As people get older, it’s so important to keep the body limber to prevent injuries but also for the quality of life you get as a result.

Also take a look st this link - https://gmb.io/stretching-tips/

purethick

milli milli wrote: »

I’d recommend going back to a beginner yoga class - maybe not a ‘flow’ class but something like Iyengar where the poses are held in isolation and for a longer time.

100% agree with this - doing a class with a good teacher is a zillion times better than trying to figure it out via YouTube. Half the time you may think you've got the right alignment, but you probably won't.

milli milli wrote: »

Also don’t be looking around the class comparing yourself to others, everyone is on their own yoga journey.

Totally agree with this too - it's hard to check your ego at the door but you gotta do this. It gets easier with time though