I can't "touch my toes"! What should I do?

[Bill Hewitt]

I'm a new ballet student (male, 49 yrs). I'm taking adult beginner classes at a very good school. Several classes so far.

 

I'm terribly inflexible when we stretch at the beginning of each class. Especially sitting on the floor with my legs out front, leaning forward over my knees to reach my feet. Even sitting upright requires me to push with my hands on the floor behind me or tug with my hip flexors. The best I can do is a "push-over", not a "lean-over". I think the problem is my hamstrings and my lower back.

 

I've been like this my whole life. Lately I'm the "worst" one in my ballet or fitness classes, though I do realize my classmates are nearly all younger and almost all women, whether that makes a difference. I suspect this is typical for most people, especially men. But "most" people don't take fitness classes or ballet classes!

 

What should I do to improve this type of flexibility.

[dancepig]

No worries, just keep on working at it. It's really good that you are taking ballet, it will help increase your flexibility. If possible, take a floor or mat pilates class, this will help increase your flexibility and help with core strength. If there are no pilates classes, perhaps a yoga class, but it would depend on the type of yoga that is offered. Or, you could work in a swimming pool (warm water please). Several things to keep in mind - it's better to stretch (especially weight bearing stretching) when you're warmed up. Please do not stretch when cold. If need be, do at least three minutes of cardio, then some slight stretching. Therabands are very helpful, I think there are several topics that discuss this. You might also check out Deborah Vogel's website: The Body Series

 

As to your question about specific stretching exercises, I'm not in a position to give you exact stretching exercises, this should be done by someone who can see you and make sure you don't have any "issues", perhaps your teacher could help with this?

[kylara7]

I also highly recommend yin yoga for flexibility and joint health. It's a style of yoga that focuses on gently stretching the connective tissues of the spine, pelvis, and hips using poses that are held for a long period of time 3-8+ minutes, to allow the muscle tension to release and use breathing and relaxation to slowly increase range of motion. It's very meditative and a good contrast to very active and energetic lifestyles and pursuits (like dance and sports!). I have found it to be an excellent complement to ballet and Pilates and it has definitely helped me increase my flexibility and get to know my body mechanics better.

 

It's not very commonly offered, so you might need to do some searching to find classes or DVDs. There's some good intro material here: http://www.yinyoga.com/index.php

 

Congrats on taking up ballet...it's so much fun and so challenging

[Bill Hewitt]

Does it make my flexibility worse that I'm training for a triathlon? This year miles and miles of biking, swimming, soon running? And snowshoeing, etc?

 

Or can they be compatible?

[Serendipity]

It doesn't make a difference, in reality, if you keep at the stretching. Always stretch AFTER you've thorougly warmed up, though. At our age, not warming up beforehand is a recipe for disaster!

[Balletlove]

I support Serendipity 100% with regards to being warmed up before you stretch!

If it helps to know it, I couldnt touch my toes either but with some gentle stretching every day I soon could. From my own experience I have also learnt that in trying to touch your toes it is also about how you do this for me it was about learning to bend (or as my teacher puts it "to fold") in the hips, if you dont allow the hips to go I dont know if you would be able to touch your toes. Think of doing a table top stretch and then allowing it to fold forward... personally I found it easier to do standing up.

[Bill Hewitt]

Fold at the hips? Do you mean like we turn out sideways way up in the hips not the knees, but in this case it's "folding" over forward down in the hip joints instead of up where the spine connects to the pelvis? (I might be describing this wrong, but I don't have an anatomical reference handy.)

[BarreTalk]

Does it make my flexibility worse that I'm training for a triathlon? This year miles and miles of biking, swimming, soon running? And snowshoeing, etc?

Or can they be compatible?

 

As one tri-guy to another, I gotta tell you that your tri training won't help your stretching efforts.

 

You never take muscles to full extension during your training, which makes stretching afterwards a really good idea, whether you're doing ballet or not. I'm a big believer in daily stretching to keep muscles long and limber.

[dancepig]

Fold at the hips? Do you mean like we turn out sideways way up in the hips not the knees, but in this case it's "folding" over forward down in the hip joints instead of up where the spine connects to the pelvis? (I might be describing this wrong, but I don't have an anatomical reference handy.

I think this means you need to lift up and out of the hip then fold over the front of the thighs. Try to envision a hinge that is jammed down into itself, it wouldn't move as well as if the hinge was aligned correctly. If you pull up and out of your hip, then stretch out and over your upper thighs, you might find yourself with more flexibility. Also, because you are an athlete, you need to be sure you're getting a lot of stretch time after your workouts, at least fifteen minutes of stretching. One good stretch is to lay on the floor/ground, extend one leg up, the other leg straight on the floor/ground, use a hand towel around the foot that is up, and slowly bring the foot closer to your head. Try to keep both legs as straight as possible. Be sure to only do this after your workout and be sure to do this very slowly. After you get the leg towards your head then hold the towel in one hand and carefully bring that leg to the side. Just remember - baby steps! Stretching is meant to be done in baby steps.

[Guest Pas de Quoi]

I suggest you try not keeping your legs straight in the seated stretch you describe in your post above and in other stretches where you are lying on your back. In my training as both a ballet teacher and a Pilates instructor, and with my work with physical therapists over the years, I have learned that low back tightness along with hamstring tightness is common and more often than not, interrelated. Trying to stretch hamstring muscles with straight legs while experiencing low back tightness will not be effective, as muscles are working hard already and they cannot relax into a beneficial stretching mode.

 

For the seated forward fold stretch you mention in your post, try this - Sit up on a small pillow or (ideally) a folded blanket and you will immediately feel you can sit up on top of your sitting bones and your back will relax. It is important that your lower back be able to relax and lengthen a bit. Then, try bending your knees slightly or even what seems like quite a bit , so that you can bend forward and get your upper body closer to your legs. You can either stay in that stretch or if you feel you are ready, slowly straighten your knees a bit. The ideal here is to be able to get the upper body forward onto the legs and then slowly increase the amount of stretch by lengthening the legs, not to try to reach your toes first - that is what should come last.

 

In this way, you allow the muscles in the low back and the backs of the legs to "soften" and they will be able to stretch much easier. I agree with Barre Talk - you have a challenge with flexibility if you are training for an event like a triathlon. I also agree with the posters above who state that yoga can help - you might try a good Iyengar style yoga class. This type of class uses props (such as the folded blanket) and taught well, gives people a lot of information about their bodies and strategies to safely increase flexibility. Deborah Vogel's site is also a very good one. You can even e-mail your question to her and she will respond with good information. Good luck to you

[Bill Hewitt]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll keep this all in mind in tonight's class (especially the part about taking it slow).

 

I just got another idea: I'll take the earlier bus and walk the last several blocks to warm myself up. Or if the forecast blizzard comes, I'll walk up the stairs and run down the halls a few times. (Huge old building, almost empty at night!)

 

Then I'll experiment around with all your ideas in my stretching this weekend.

[lampwick]

I'll second Pas de Quoi's advice about sitting on a towel or pillow to release your lower back. My pelvis is naturally tipped back a bit. In ballet you'll hear this referred to as "tucked under". My lower spine has very little curve to it. Just the way I'm built. Most people seem to have the opposite problem.

 

I struggled for a LONG time with tight hamstrings that are difficult to stretch because of this. Sitting up on a pillow or towel so you can actually get on your sit bones if you're having difficulty will help a lot. I've been dancing my whole life and am at an advanced level, and still need to stretch those hamstrings in a gentle way. You'll totally get there though with persistance and patience. I can touch my toes, and then some You'll get there:)

[kylara7]

Bill, I'm not a triathlete, but I bike commute every day and do a lot of running (20 or so miles per week...it keeps me sane and relaxed). What the others have said about lots of stretching is good advice; I have not observed any negative effects from my other activities, but I also do a lot of stretching after activity and also in yin yoga and general stretching.

 

Doing long gradual stretches while watching TV is a good way to multitask and keeps you from just vegging on the couch (I watch a lot of football and have been glued to the bowl games while working on my lower back flexibility, which has always been my least mobile area...trying to improve my arabesque!). Every person will have naturally flexible and naturally inflexible areas or directions due to their personal biomechanics and body type and their activities, but we can all improve the problem areas.

 

My best flexibility tip is to get into the stretch at an easy level first and let your muscles and joints relax as you breath slowly and deeply. As your body adjusts to the tension and releases, you can slowly sink deeper into the stretch. Sinking into the stretch with the exhale is a yoga technique that is wonderfully meditative as well as effective. But increasing flexibility takes time and consistency...don't push it too hard at first and let your body adapt. Good luck!

[Balletlove]

In reply to my comment about folding in the hipd, dancepig got it spot on with "If you pull up and out of your hip, then stretch out and over your upper thighs, you might find yourself with more flexibility"

 

I can also support the sitting on a rolled up towel or somethign similar, I used two small softish rubber bounicng b alls (they were too soft to bounce properly) and sat on those I did find that it improved not only my ability to reach my toes but also gave a nice stretch in the lower back, as per Pas de Quoi's post "I have learned that low back tightness along with hamstring tightness is common and more often than not, interrelated" personally I had never thought about the link between the two but it makes 100% sense.

 

Provided you are fit enough to jog/walk/cycle to class I think that starting with nicely warmed up muscles would be a huge advantage (with your triathlete training I am sure that this level of fitness is not a problem, for me, that is a different story )

[Arizona Native]

Adding to all of the above -- warming up by starting in a squat, hands on the floor in front of your feet; keep the fingertips close to the floor and with just gentle effort, straighten the legs, looking towards your shins; after your legs are strainght, reach out to the opposite wall and pull the belly in, acheiving flat back and then standing; reverse. If you maintain the flat back and the reach, it will give you that "hinging" feeling, both going up and reversing. Straightening from a squat helps the hamstrings release. Doing about 8 of these gets the body and hamstrings a little warm before doing more, as well as helping gently stretch the hamstrings.