Does Flexibility return?

Monkeymin

I use to be incredibly flexible as a kid. I imagine most of us were. After weight gain and age attacked I seemed to lose all flexibility. I have been using the Kinect Dance Central as a fun way to exercise, but I notice my felxibilty is not too great.

I wondered if anyone had any advice to improve my flexibilty or has this happened to you? Does your flexbility come back? or am i destined to be a stiff dancer for ever. I'm only 29 so i recon I have the potential to get my grove back lol:laugh:

McBody

your flexibility will come back if it is something that you work on continuously. The more your stretch, the more it will return.

kr3851

I teach dance, and I definitely lost a lot of my flex when I hit puberty - bones growing all over the place and me not keeping my stretching up. It does get better - if you work on it EVERY DAY. Warm up to get the blood pumping and then do basic stretches - making sure to hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Don't bounce - you might rip something (and that FRIGGIN HURTS, let me tell you!!) I'm 28 and I decided I'm not ready to retire from competition yet - so I've been working really hard on my flex and it is getting heaps better. Now to lose the 50kgs that's holding me back from being a superstar...

Monkeymin

your flexibility will come back if it is something that you work on continuously. The more your stretch, the more it will return.

thanks, that gives me hope.

Monkeymin

I teach dance, and I definitely lost a lot of my flex when I hit puberty - bones growing all over the place and me not keeping my stretching up. It does get better - if you work on it EVERY DAY. Warm up to get the blood pumping and then do basic stretches - making sure to hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Don't bounce - you might rip something (and that FRIGGIN HURTS, let me tell you!!) I'm 28 and I decided I'm not ready to retire from competition yet - so I've been working really hard on my flex and it is getting heaps better. Now to lose the 50kgs that's holding me back from being a superstar...

I'm 29 and I don't think I've ever really stretched properly. so If i never had optimum flexibilty, do you think I can still reach it?

kr3851

I teach dance, and I definitely lost a lot of my flex when I hit puberty - bones growing all over the place and me not keeping my stretching up. It does get better - if you work on it EVERY DAY. Warm up to get the blood pumping and then do basic stretches - making sure to hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Don't bounce - you might rip something (and that FRIGGIN HURTS, let me tell you!!) I'm 28 and I decided I'm not ready to retire from competition yet - so I've been working really hard on my flex and it is getting heaps better. Now to lose the 50kgs that's holding me back from being a superstar...

I'm 29 and I don't think I've ever really stretched properly. so If i never had optimum flexibilty, do you think I can still reach it?

I'm wayyyy more flexi than I was when I was a kid. Look at people who've taken up yoga at 45 or 50 - they do yoga 3 or 4 times a week and suddenly they're ridiculously flexi. I'm sure with a bit of work, you'll get there.

bizco

Incorporate pilates and yoga into your fitness rountine. You can do these every day since the workouts are usually only 20 minutes. Your flexibility will return.

Monkeymin

Incorporate pilates and yoga into your fitness rountine. You can do these every day since the workouts are usually only 20 minutes. Your flexibility will return.

I've tried some yoga and my co-ordination sucks lol I will give it another go.

CynthiaS

Incorporate pilates and yoga into your fitness rountine. You can do these every day since the workouts are usually only 20 minutes. Your flexibility will return.

I've tried some yoga and my co-ordination sucks lol I will give it another go.

I agree if you keep at it yoga will help good luck

issabishie

you will become more flexible to an extent as you lose weight as your fat won't 'get in the way' when you bend and reach, but the right kind of exercise will do wonders for you, pilates is fantastic for regaining and building flexibility.
any kind of low impact low cardio work will help, pilates, tai chi, yoga etc.

Monkeymin

Incorporate pilates and yoga into your fitness rountine. You can do these every day since the workouts are usually only 20 minutes. Your flexibility will return.

I've tried some yoga and my co-ordination sucks lol I will give it another go.

I agree if you keep at it yoga will help good luck

Thanks

girlinahat

Yoga.

I used to be really flexible - not through dancing but through hyper-extension, but as I have aged I have lost a lot. Yoga is helping get this back (in a good way)

Monkeymin

you will become more flexible to an extent as you lose weight as your fat won't 'get in the way' when you bend and reach, but the right kind of exercise will do wonders for you, pilates is fantastic for regaining and building flexibility.
any kind of low impact low cardio work will help, pilates, tai chi, yoga etc.

See it's not so much the fat as that doesn't stop me bending etc. It feels like its my bones and muscles that stop me.

amfaery

mine did with yoga!

Monkeymin

Ok so the census suggests I take up yoga. Will this help me lose weight as well?

sparrow747

I agree with yoga... I'm not sure if yogas helped me lose a lot of weight compared to cardio... but I can definitely tell that it's tightening up my whole body, and really strengthening my muscles (legs, back, core, arms) for sure.

yoginimary

Yoga will sort of help you lose weight.

First off, it's not much of a calorie burn, though different styles work you in different ways.

Hot yoga (bikram 105 degrees, ashtanga 92 degrees, some vinyasa/power 75-100 degrees, ask before you go) Many people claim that hot yoga burns more calories than other types, but it doesn't seem possible that heat burns calories - otherwise those in the south without air conditioning would be thin. Heat does increase your heart rate, so many times you get a false reading on your HRM for calorie burn. Heat can help you increase your flexibility faster, but you are also more likely to pull a muscle in a heated setting. Ashtanga and Vinyasa have a lot of movement, and usually a lot of pushups in them, so they generally burn more calories than other types.

Hatha - all yoga that is a physical practice is Hatha yoga, but on the schedule it means a mixed bag. You don't know what to expect - could be anything from some sort of ashtanga vinyasa to a restorative class. Best to ask before you go.

Iyengar/Anusara/alignment based yoga - these are types where you go to learn how to do yoga, where to put your feet, etc. Anusara is more of a mix between Iyengar and Vinyasa and it's probably the fastest growing method - it appeals to a lot of people. Most people think of Iyengar yoga as a yoga for the injured or middle aged - and while it is great for those populations, we frequently do 1 minute or more timings in Iyengar classes (think of trying to do handstand for a minute!)

Viniyoga - a slow flow class - there's movement, but it's gentler - I don't know much about this method.

Kundalini - a lot of breath work in this class.

All that to say, you never know what you might get a in a yoga class. I seriously doubt you will burn more than 400 calories an hour in any class, unless you are rather big.

However, if you really get into yoga, you will become more mindful about your eating habits and what you eat - so that's usually the part that helps you lose weight. Also a reduction in stress can help with weight loss.

More than you wanted to know, right?

Jenscan

Yoga has a lot of benefits. Give it a try - and you can burn a lot of calories doing it if you do the right style. You don't have to burn 700 calories a day to lose weight.

yoginimary

Oh, and to answer your original question, yes, in a way. When I was a kid, I could touch my feet to the back of my head in a backbend - and while I have yet to do that again, I can still bend backward quite well.

Oddly, when I was a kid, I could do the splits with the legs out to the side, but not forward and back - now I'm the opposite - after 11 years of yoga, that is.

Monkeymin

More than you wanted to know, right?

Not at all. That was great thanks

gazz777

bump

leenites

Flexibility can definitely be trained. I used to be so inflexible. I cannot jump high at all and I cannot bend much. After I integrated working out into my lifestyle for the past 1 years, my flexibility greatly increased. I can jump high, I can bend and touch my toes, etc.

LorinaLynn

I haven't really done much yoga or pilates, but just incorporating stretching into my warmups before exercise and cooldowns after, my flexibility has improved a LOT.

I was never able to touch my toes, even as a very bendy, hypermobile child, until this past year, and I'm 39!

Lozze

I'm 29 and I don't think I've ever really stretched properly. so If i never had optimum flexibilty, do you think I can still reach it?

Yup. It sounds simple, but I went from nothing to just stretching before work every day. I went from not being able to get my hands near the floor to touching the ground with my palms. If you practise it will come back, or come for the first time!

Nicola0000

My yoga instructor is mid fifties and is over weight, but is so flexible!! He has only been doing it for 10 years, so age and weight wont stop anyone. I went for ages and could touch my toes, but then I stopped as going through some bad family stuff. And then when I went back into it, I had lost it all, and now cant touch my toes without bending my knees. So you can also lose it too.

Yoga is essentially stretching, so if you dont want to go to a Yoga class, there is a free app you can download that you can do from home. It doesnt happen over night, but over time you will get there.

pucenavel

I didn't think my flexibility was bad for my 40's until I did a few months of PT for a leg injury. Saw a lot of improvement from proper stretching and thought I was really flexible again. That was until a few weeks of doing hot yoga. I saw a HUGE improvements from it. Now, I'm starting in on Yin Yoga (no cardio - stretch only - I get plenty of cardio from swim/run/bike) and seeing even further improvements.

stylistchik

Yoga, regular stretching after exercise when your muscles are warm. I'm a dancer and I am not naturally flexible. I worked really hard at it in high school for competitions and I've lost a little since I started weight training and running. If I do yoga for a few weeks I can usually get it back.

stylistchik

I teach dance, and I definitely lost a lot of my flex when I hit puberty - bones growing all over the place and me not keeping my stretching up. It does get better - if you work on it EVERY DAY. Warm up to get the blood pumping and then do basic stretches - making sure to hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Don't bounce - you might rip something (and that FRIGGIN HURTS, let me tell you!!) I'm 28 and I decided I'm not ready to retire from competition yet - so I've been working really hard on my flex and it is getting heaps better. Now to lose the 50kgs that's holding me back from being a superstar...

What type of dance do you teach and what do you compete? I miss it very much and I'm active in ballroom dance but I really miss, jazz, ballet and lyrical, even a little cheer. lol I just feel like it's hard to find challenging dance for "grown ups" not just beginner classes, something worth working at.