How Flexible Are You?
 

After about a year off, I have just returned to taking some yoga classes. I was never really flexible (my natural state is vegitative) but once I started yoga I slowly started to get flexible. I was able to touch my toes for the first time in my life without bending my knees.

After my year break I was sure I was going to have to start all over again but it wasn't as all that bad. A few classes in and I have regained a lot of my flexibility. What I have noticed is that many of the others in my class are not able to touch their toes.

It got me to thinking. How many of you can touch your toes without bending your knees? Can you do the splits (I know I can't)?

What can you (or wish you could) do?

I can't cross my wrists behind my back. Can't be handcuffed as a result (not without dislocating my shoulders, anyway).

I'm pretty damn flexible...I can do a standing backbend, sit "lotus" for long periods of time without discomfort, and lay on my belly, bend my knees, and reach back and grab my ankles. It's not particularly useful at this juncture in my life, but at least its a good party trick.

I can touch the floor with my palms without bending knees and sit lotus but I never could do a full split. Close but no cigar. I can hold a wall squat for a long time, does that count? :p

I'm pretty lucky in this respect. I live a sedentary lifestyle, with occasional bike rides and walking. I have never stretched before or after weights, but I did take a couple of yoga classes back in college. I can still put my foot behind my head, though. I can touch my toes too, but it does get a little uncomfortable over time. Sitting lotus is no different for me than sitting normally (indian style, as they called it in school :))

Why cant I meet girls like you?

I can touch my toes without bending my knees, but I´m still a lot less flexible physically than I used to be.

As for being flexible mentally and socially, I´m fucking gumby dammit.

:D That gave me a good giggle....

I cannot touch my toes, I cannot do the splits and I'm probably the least flexible person I know. I can't do anything special :(

i'm not flexible at all since i don't stretch regularly, however back in the day, i used to be able to do front/back splits with my right leg in the front only.

I've never been very flexible at all. Even when I was training daily for years at a time, I was noticeable less so
than those I trained with. My Mom, who holds degrees in physiotherapy & a BSC from McGill tells me it's due to
having tighter ligaments. She says it prevented injuries, especially when I was a running back in football.
Still, my lady says I'm limber enough, so I'm happy.

i'm pretty flexible, dancer 2 isn't much of a problem, lotus, palms on floor, palms under feet, wheel, and i can touch my nose to my knees w/out bending my knees.

but i recently started teaching pilates/yoga fusion classes recently and i've gained a good bit of flexibility that i didn't expect to gain. I still can't do splits, etc., but i can put my palms behind my back in prayer position.

Interesting, never thought about that. Turns out I can too, but barely LOL

Popped my shoulder real good when I did it too!

about 90% of the people i meet can't.


btw, a TON of my flexibility is due to being very very lazy as a kid..the tendons/ligaments never tightened up, sooooo, here i am. I started at a gym about 3 yrs ago and i had to actively keep working on the flexibility part of it or i would quickly lose the ability to touch my toes.

WK, you're the only other person I know of who can do that.

I thought i wasn't that flexible, but apparently i am. I think it's because i learn off a japanese aikido instructor who could turn himself inside out if he put some thought into it.

Anyone who's sat through an hour of seiza then can't get up whilst the instructor leaps into the air like a gazelle will know what i mean.

I can touch my palms to the floor without bending knees. Don't need to work at it either.
I can do the ("Chinese") splits with about 2-3 weeks of stretching.
prayer behind back, easy.
my left shoulder can dislocate comfortably, and I can put it all the way behind my head so that its nearly horizontal to the ground.
my wrists are quite flexible too, but I can't think of how to describe em
I've always been pretty flexible.

Oof. My left shoulder can pull out too, but I try to keep it tight because when I do work out, it can get pretty sore if I'm benching and the joint is loose.

I'm not very flexible in my legs but I am pretty flexible in my arms. I have the ability to rotate my elbows more than is normal. I can't do the splits, never have been able to, or touch my toes. I can do the palms behind my back thing and the reaching back to grab my ankles- seems normal to me.

I have a friend who can make his thumbs touch his wrists :oogle:

To end on a freaky note, my toes are double-jointed. :eek:

That's um... hi... um... You're pretty...

*faints*

I am no longer as flexible as I was in high school. I can still do a backbend, but not the splits all the way anymore.

I can barely touch my KNEES with my knees straight.

I can put my knuckles on the floor without bending my knees. I really believe remaning flexible as you age is essential. I've got two bum knees so yoga is not easy, but other forms of stretching and exercise are part of my life.

I'm not flexible at all, or at least I wasn't until I started doing yoga on a regular basis. I always struggled to touch my toes and stretch out. I was probably the most inflexible ballet dancer out of my entire class as a kid. My mom had signed me up for ballet because I was klutzy and tight; now she comments that she should have signed me up for yoga instead, as it's markedly improved my flexibility, posture, and balance, even as an adult.

I still have a hard time doing remarkably flexible things, but I can touch my toes now, and that is accomplishment enough.

People who see me make certain moves often say something like "you're pretty flexible for an older guy"...to put that into perspective, I'm 59.4 years old. Luckily I still have above average reflexes and agility along with the flexibility. But I'm sure all is not as great as it seems since I really notice how lately my joints can get achey; probably onset of some arthritic stuff. But after I limber up, it's pretty good again for a while.

I really should get into some yoga...the whole physical/mental thing appeals to me.

I can still touch my palms to the floor, but with less ease and less duration than when I was taking yoga. When I took yoga regularly, I was able to bend down for the splits and get about 6" away from the ground... pretty good. Now I am way less flexible... But I can still touch my toes.

I can easily touch my palms to the floor with my knees straight, and wrap my hands around my feet when I'm doing a sit-and-reach. I can come close to doing straddles or splits, but haven't been able to do them for real since I was 9 or 10 in gymnastics. I'm relatively flexible otherwise, but not excessively so. It's something I plan on working on.

Up until two years ago, I was able to bend at the waist and touch my nose to my knees.
It was in showing this "trick" to my daughter about 5 times in a row that a disk in my back decided to slip.
FOund out I have a birth defect-my L5 didn't grow in concert with the rest of my spine-and it was probably that defect that allowed me to bend like that, but also that same defect that caused the back damage.
Since then, getting out of bed is painful right to my toes.

Sucks getting old.....

Ya I can only touch my Knees.

That would be me :) but only with my left hand. my right hand is a bit stiff. does it count when you can make a wave motion with your tongue???

i'm not as flexible as i used to be...i cant touch my toes without bending my knees, i can do the palms behind the back thing, i can sit "Indian Style" :) but not for too long.

my thumbs bend further back than most people's. They're always amazed when they see it happen and also when i do the whole wavey tongue thing :)

Very, though I'm not as flexible as I once was. My hands are almost freakish; I can play the piano palms up. I can still move both of my arms in perfect circles and reach any part of my back due to flexibility from swimming. I can do a complete camel pose. And yes, I can reach my toes without bending my knees.

Fingers pointing down, no problem. Fingers up hurts.

*Wonders why the hell I even tried that in the first place.

I'm fairly flexible - well ok extremely so. I always have been, I can do the splits (sideways not vertical splits) and almost put my feet behind my head. Lying on my stomach arching back I have to be careful (I have kicked myself in the head) I can touch my elbows together behind my back (discovered when a friend of my brother thought this question was a great way to make girls sticks their chests out at him)

My hands and fingers aren't too flexible though - well not compared to some of you, a few years of piano and a heck of alot of typing make them quite strong (apparently great for massages) but my fingers won't bend back - I can do that whole thumb to wrist thing forward and backwards though.

half my yoga class is having issues actually touching toes right now, so you rock that shit out :)

seriously, for someone who doesn't stretch regularly, a toetouch is a HUGE step