Quit Your Morning Routine

I get asked this a lot by new clients…

"what can I do daily to progress my flexibility faster and decrease stiffness?

or “What should my morning routine be?”

For some reason flexibility is the one motor ability that people think that the more you do of it the better 

If you build it in to a daily routine, it becomes a habit- and habits lead to change

But you would never think about strength, speed, hypertrophy, and conditioning the same way

Of course there are high frequency protocols that work well, but more is certainly not always better.

I heard an influencer talking on his IG stories yesterday about stretching. He said "all of the most flexible people i know stretch every day. So if you want to get more flexible, then stretch every day."

Some of the fastest sprinters I know don't sprint every day, some of the strongest power lifters I know don't deadlift every day, and some of the most jacked bodybuilders don't train the same muscle group everyday

The only exception is skill acquisition. The more you can do of it the faster your progress will be as long as you are able to recover. Handstands, technical drills in sports, or anything where technique is the limiting factor responds best to maximum recoverable volume

There is a skill component to flexibility training as well. It can also be beneficial to use your range throughout the week to tell your nervous system it has importance in your life. As long as you're just expressing your range and not trying to increase flexibility every time to stretch and mobilize. 

When you are a beginner high frequency can work wonders as you are learning how to access your full end range potential. But the key is that these are still planned out sessions to do multiple times a week, and not just done sporatically whenever you feel stiff.

If you want the best results for improving flexibility, then you need to focus on recovery. If you are stretching hard and with adequate intensity thats needed to stimulate change, then only train 1-2 times per week per muscle group.

You can stretch and grease the groove daily simply to feel good. Other than that, don't worry about it. Focus on other things.

I used to be super neurotic about this stuff. If I sat for too long I felt like I had to do a mini flexibility session to undo all of that. If I didn't stretch every single day, I thought it would eat away at my progress. Even though I was still stretching hard a few times a week.

I also used to believe morning routines were mandatory to maintain and build mobility. I would do about 30-45 minutes of extra mobility work every morning thinking it would un do stiffness from sleeping and make me more mobilie throughout the day. I did this for years and can’t really say it made a difference.

Over the past 3 years I stopped all morning routines. I now wake up, then immediately sit on my laptop and take calls with clients until the afternoon. Within that time period I got more flexibile then I ever have been. I sit more throughout the day and I’m getting closer and closer to achieving the splits and deeper back bends. You would think my posture would get worse right? nope- didn’t happen either.

Focus on improving your range of motion in your main sessions week by week or month by month. Don't worry about what you're doing on the days in between or even throughout your day. The more you think about it, the more that mental stress eats into your recovery.

When you see really flexible people stretching every day they're probably not doing that to increase flexibility. They are probably just warming up for their activities or just using stretching to feel good. So how they are stretching is very submaximal compared to their current end range of motion. This is probably just a bit of "limbering" to them

Be cautious of listening to people who built their flexibility as a kid as well. Kids can basically get away with any type of frequency and intensity and get flexible as long as they stretch. Their nervous system is extremely moldable then.

Getting flexible as an adult requires more patience, recovery, and respect for joint health

So when I get that question "what daily routines can I do?" my answer typically sounds like this.

Do whatever feels good. Stay moving throughout the day for general health purposes, but don't feel like you have to stretch. Hang from a bar a bit, squat, sit on the floor; but for the most part, don't worry about it. If you're feeling stiff every day, then that means you need to recover more. Stiffness is normal and you're probably going to feel more stiff the day after a hard training session.

Most of the time you don't get to experience the benefits of usable flexibility until you take a long break away from intense flexibility training. While you're training it weekly, you tend to feel more stiff day today so realize that is a normal thing to experience. Don't give into it. If you keep scratching an itch from a rash, you end up irritating it further. Stimulate in your planned training sessions, and let adaptation do its thing in background.

Sitting isn't the new smoking. It's just a really efficient posture to rest in. Of course everything in moderation.

My best piece of advice is to have a structured and progressive flexibility plan to follow. This takes away all the stress of what you need to do on a weekly basis.

If you need help structuring a plan based on your specific needs and current level, then please reach out and I'd be happy to help.

Stay supple