I bent over to stretch after spin class this morning and I touched my toes!! More than touched my toes, my fingers went all the way to floor and my knees were straight!! I was so flabbergasted I yelled it out to my friend beside me. I said it way too loud and had five other people then turning their heads to see what was going on. I then turned bright red, of course. They all asked me to demonstrate. I felt stupid and giddy at the same time!! LOL!
I've never been able to touch my toes. These past 90 pounds I kept expecting my flexibility to improve, but it never did. My cardio has increased better than ten fold, I can lift heavy and strong, but my toes have eluded me. The backs of my knees have always been so tight! And Dr. Oz says the inability to touch our toes is indicative of heart disease because it means our arteries are likely not flexible too.
So I'm celebrating this victory today! I can touch my toes!
LOL! It took me forever. I consider myself quite physically fit at this point, so I thought this one little victory was just going to elude me forever. But at 265 pounds, my best friend was so flexible, her personal trainer put her on a step to have her "touch her toes" because she could bend well past the step. It's not about weight, I don't think. It's about flexibility.
Congrats!!!
I didn't know if I could touch my toes or not with straight knees so I just now tried it.. after a few moments of grunting and stretching toward those toes I could touch them fine when I slightly curled my big toes upward LOL does that count? ha ha. I am stiff and not flexible anymore at all..
Flexibility has been one of the physical areas where I've been a success. I can reach down and put my hands flat on the floor a little behind my feet. I think this is mostly due to years of dance class growing up.
I just tried it cause I wasn't sure if I could or not. Apparently I can do it but it requires concentration since I naturally want to bend my knees. lol. I can seriously feel the stretch and I can just barely get my fingers under my toes you must be pretty flexible if you can get your whole hand down there.
Just got up from my chair, kicked off my Danskos, so I was barefoot, and tried this. Yes, no problem. As I thought. We do this in Pilates a lot, hanging from the waist to loosen up. Then went out into the foyer that I share with my next-door neighbor, where there is a step. Turns out I can go a little past my toes. My hamstrings are fairly loose. What stops me from going even further seems to be my hips. Anyway, I think what helps is that my stomach isn't in the way anymore. (That would have been the dealbreaker back in 2007; my lap would've been an immovable impediment.) I am not so flexible, but this, I can do.
Saefly, oddly I'm extremely flexible in other areas of my body. You know that butterfly stretch where you sit, put your feet together and bring the head down between the feet? I used to sleep like that as a kid! I find it very relaxing and my knees go all the way down. When I stretch out my triceps I can reach one arm over my head and bring the other around around to meet in the middle of my back. But my hamstrings are ridiculous.
And yet, I have yet to feel my hamstrings in a workout. I have tried several lifting moves to work them, and I never feel it there and have never been sore there. Spinning should work the hamstrings, but I never feel it. I hover as low as I can over that bike seat, but no hamstrings.
My joints must be strung together pretty loosely throughout my body, because I find most flexibility moves easy. I'm another hands-flat-on-floor toe-toucher and always figured it was because I was so short and close to the ground anyway.
That put-your-feet-together-and-put-your-head-down move you described? I remember doing that in my theatre class as a warm-up; we were asked to do that and put our knees down as far as they could go. When I did it, my knees were already flat to the floor and I could comfortably rest my face between the arches of my feet. I can still do that at 41 and at a little over 200 pounds. My legs are just attached weirdly or something.
I'm convinced that flexibility is something we're born into to a large degree. That makes earning it through effort even more impressive! I'm working toward being able to clasp my hands behind my back with one arm over the shoulder and one arm under (it's hard to describe, but I think you know what I mean). Apparently my arms aren't attached weirdly like my legs.
I can almost get there, but my stomach is in the way. I'm also working on doing the splits and backbend at the moment. The sidesplits are almost there. Pretty impressive for my weight, I think.
I've always been pretty flexible, even at my heaviest. Even though I was a chubby kid I was able to easily touch my foot to my face.
I can touch all my digits onto the ground, as well as the "ball" (?) of my hand. I'd like to be able to get my whole hand flat on the ground, but until some more of the stomach disappears, I'm not sure I can make it!
I touched my toes!! Can you?
They all asked me to demonstrate. I felt stupid and giddy at the same time!! LOL!
I can touch my toes!
