Flexibility and Stretching http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility My thoughts about anything to do with flexibility and stretching... Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:54:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Natalia Vasylyuk… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2011/03/07/natalia-vasylyuk/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2011/03/07/natalia-vasylyuk/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:39:53 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/?p=47 Natalia Vasylyuk remains my favorite female contortion artists. I watch a lot of contortion on YouTube, but keep coming back to this clip.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2011/03/07/natalia-vasylyuk/feed/ 0 Quick life update… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2008/05/19/quick-life-update/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2008/05/19/quick-life-update/#comments Mon, 19 May 2008 14:27:00 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/?p=34 Continue reading →]]> I’ve not written for a while, but I’ve been stretching quite a lot.

My stretching has been a little random in so much as I’ve not been sticking to a set routine lately. Much of my stretching has just been short reps of front and side splits. Most of the time I’ve been holding them for less than 15 seconds.

I still think PNF is the most efficient form of stretching, but at the moment I can’t face it. It’s a lot of effort and a little daunting. Short reps seem really easy and I don’t even think about it. There’s a lot to be said for doing something you enjoy.

My back bend training has gone by the way-side. I keep meaning to get back into it, but I always forget. :)

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2008/05/19/quick-life-update/feed/ 3 Dynamic Flexibility… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/27/dynamic-flexibility/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/27/dynamic-flexibility/#comments Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:46:45 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/27/dynamic-flexibility/ Continue reading →]]> I’ve just added a page about Dynamic Flexibility and a Weekly Stretching Routine. Click on the links and check them out.

I’ve made a couple of minor changes to the site. There is now a fixed homepage and the blog is a link on the “Pages” menu. I think that makes a bit more sense since the pages contain more specific information than the blog.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/27/dynamic-flexibility/feed/ 0 Back Bend Progress http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/09/back-bend-progress/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/09/back-bend-progress/#comments Sat, 09 Jun 2007 18:53:42 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/09/back-bend-progress/ It’s a month later and another photo has been added to the back bend progress page.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/06/09/back-bend-progress/feed/ 4 More Progress… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/25/more-progress/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/25/more-progress/#comments Fri, 25 May 2007 13:39:45 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/25/more-progress/ Continue reading →]]> Last night showed another marked improvement. Looking at the current rate of progress I think I’ll be back at my best on side splits and left front splits within a couple of weeks. I think the right front splits will take a bit longer. It is dramatically better than it was a few days ago, but it is not responding as quickly as the left leg. It’s hard work holding myself back, but if I try to move to quickly I’ll just re-injure it and put myself back again.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/25/more-progress/feed/ 0 Yoga Tree… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/yoga-tree/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/yoga-tree/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 09:47:20 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/yoga-tree/ I noticed this picture on the net today.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/yoga-tree/feed/ 1 Injuries, Splits and Back Bends… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/injuries-splits-and-back-bends/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/injuries-splits-and-back-bends/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 09:41:56 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/injuries-splits-and-back-bends/ Continue reading →]]> About a week ago I was doing a right-side open split and I felt a “ping” in my right butt cheek. I got out of the stretch pretty sharpish, took an ibuprofen and massaged the hell out of the area.

The next day I attempted some stretches and noticed that all my splits had regressed by 6-8 inches. I didn’t feel pain when stretching, but it felt like my legs wouldn’t move any further. I’ve been nursing a hamstring injury for a few weeks, so I decided to visit the osteopath to check if I’d got any alignment issues.

I went to see him on Tuesday and, sure enough, my pelvis was misaligned a little. He put it back and on Tuesday night a did a bit of stretching and it felt good. Last night I tried it out again and there was a little more progress. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get back to normal, but I’m confident it will be soon.

As a result of all this drama I’ve not been doing my back bend practice much, but last night I made a firm commitment to start again, so I have a couple of weeks until my next progress shots.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/24/injuries-splits-and-back-bends/feed/ 0 Back Bend Update… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/12/back-bend-update-2/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/12/back-bend-update-2/#comments Sat, 12 May 2007 20:28:58 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/12/back-bend-update-2/ As I thought, there is little or no progress!

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/12/back-bend-update-2/feed/ 0 Links Page… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/09/links-page/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/09/links-page/#comments Wed, 09 May 2007 20:58:23 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/09/links-page/ Continue reading →]]> I’ve just added a Links page, with some links to assorted video clips I like.

The stretching has been a little eratic over the last few weeks. I seem to be back on target now, but I doubt the back bend progress shots for this month will be much good.

Cheers

Tim…

]]> http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/05/09/links-page/feed/ 0 Experimenting with new routines… http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/04/13/experimenting-with-new-routines/ http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/04/13/experimenting-with-new-routines/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:58:20 +0000 Tim... http://www.oracle-base.com/flexibility/2007/04/13/experimenting-with-new-routines/ Continue reading →]]> I’m experimenting with new stretching routines at the moment. Rather than holding stretches for a long time, or doing PNF, I’m trying short reps. Typically, I’m doing one of two things.

  • Hold for a five count, then rest for a five count.
  • Hold for a five count, switch to another stretch for a five count, then switch back.

I generally do 10+ reps of each stretch.

So far it feels really good, but maybe that’s just because it’s different.  :)

Cheers

Tim…

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