Basic Pursuits

Everybody wants to be more flexible. As one student said to me, "What differences does it make how cut I am if I have to sit down to put on my pants?"

Others have different reasons. A tennis player wants that extra reach. Runners want a longer stride. Yogis want to sit quietly without struggling against tight muscles.

Of course, to become more flexible, you have to stretch and pursuing flexibility the wrong way can be as bad as not stretching at all.

Based on my 20 plus years of teaching yoga and getting myself more flexible, I offer these three points to pursue safe and consistent flexibility.

• Warm up. Warm up. Warm up. Whatever your flexibility aims, don't even think about stretching until you have warmed up. I find it best to warm up using large muscle groups in exercises like squats and planks. In many cases this principle calls for stretching after your regular exercise.
• Stretch to accomodate your flexibility needs. If you are a tennis player, hold and release stretches quickly. If your are a yogi, hold stretches for a longer period.
• Don't overdo. Fighting with your muscles and tendons to make them longer will only injure them. Then you'll make no progress until the injury heals. Flexibility is a partnership between you and your muscles and tendons. If you try to be a boss, you'll wind up being a nurse instead.

Overtime, muscles and tendons will lengthen and you can stand in the middle of the room and proudly put your pants on at any age.

Photo by Tim