It’s not easy to maintain flexibility as we get older, and we’re not just talking about flexibility in our attitudes. We are talking about flexibility in our bodies. There may have been a time once but you could stretch with the best of them and do the splits or cartwheel down the beach. We kind of lose the ability as we age but it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to wake up at 30 years old and feel like you’re in pain all the time. You are in charge of your body, and you can find out now just what you need to be able to improve your flexibility. Below, we’ve got some suggestions that will help you to get up and go and show you that your get up and go has not got up and gone.
By Team Savant
Image: Thomas Yohei
Pay attention to the way that your body feels. If you want to boost your flexibility you have to notice which areas of your body have ceased to move easily. So many people are disconnected from their body so they don’t even realize that they can’t be flexible any more. Your first sign may be that you twist in the wrong direction or you reach or something and suddenly cause yourself some pain. Tightness is most common in the neck and shoulders and even the back to the legs and that’s mostly because of what we do day to day. Start with these areas and work your way around your body.
Consider your posture. If you want to improve your flexibility you need to focus on improving your posture first and foremost. Whenever you do any movement where your head is in front of your body and your shoulders around and forward such as sitting or driving or working at the computer, your muscles contract and in their natural position. This will prevent you from being as flexible as you are right now.
Learn to stretch. We are not talking about the stretch that you do on waking in the morning, but the stretch as you do to keep your body feeling supple. If you want to boost your flexibility you need to go beyond that and look at Pilates or yoga. These activities not only strengthen your muscles, they help you to stretch your limbs in a way that makes more sense for you to improve your flexibility and feel good as you wake up.
Start sitting on the floor. Most of the time we don’t actually sit on the floor. If you sit down on the floor you’ll be able to stretch your hips, back and knees. Sitting on furniture is not a stretch because the range of motion is much smaller. There are plenty of ways that you can sit on the floor, so find a way that feels comfortable for you and try 15 minutes in each position every day.
Lastly, build it into your workout. If you already exercise regularly it’s very easy to boost your flexibility by stretching before and after you work out.