Why Your Flexibility Is NOT Improving

Let’s be honest. Training flexibility is not the most fun aspect of training. It’s uncomfortable, takes patience, and unfortunately doesn’t build six pack abs (not directly that is). With that being said it becomes even more important that you are getting the most out of your flexibility training so you can make consistent progress in the most efficient manner. Most people don’t stick to stretching because they don’t see instant results after a few weeks of “mobility work.” This leads people to not knowing if their stretching is even paying off so it’s not a priority. On the other side of the spectrum, there are people who claim to have “tried it all” without any flexibility progress to show for it. Then they end up chalking up their lack of progress to some crazy claims like genetics, bone structure, age, etc.  I myself have been on both sides of these spectrums. If you haven’t seen any progress in your flexibility and are wondering why, make sure you aren’t making these mistakes:

 1) Priority

This can be said about most forms of exercise, but if you have a main goal you must prioritize it in your workouts if you want results as fast as possible. Typically if you watch people in the gym, the only stretching they do (if any) is in the beginning in the corner. Maybe they fiddle around on a foam roller and do a few toe touches, some squats then get on with their workout where they train only in mid ranges to further emphasize stiffness.

 Flexibility training is actually… TRAINING. Not something you do in the corner for 5 min before your workout. Yes, a dynamic warm up is still an effective way to reset the muscle spindles and restore your tissues back to the “operating range.” However, this alone with a cool down stretch at the end of your workout will not elicit enough stimulus to create changes in the nervous system or tissue architecture.

 Ask yourself what is the main driver of adaptation in your workout? Is it pure strength, conditioning, is it a pump?? If the answer isn’t flexibility and strength through full range, then don’t be surprised if your progress isn’t as fast as you’d like given you at least have decent flexibility programming in the mix already. This doesn’t mean you cannot progress in multiple goals at once. You just have to get a bit more clever with the programming so that you aren’t tapping into too much reserves for flexibility adaptation. If you’re squatting and benching 5 days a week and doing crossfit WOD’s in the afternoon, then your stretch routine probably isn’t making a dent. I would question if you even have enough energy to put adequate intensity into your stretching work at that point anyways. Make it a priority and stretch when you are fresh both mentally and physically.

2) You’re doing too much

This is one of the most common ones I see in the flexibility world, especially amongst those who are exercise junkies or movement enthusiasts. For some reason the mainstream belief with getting flexible is that more is better, and you have to stretch intensely every day to get results. Now this can work in some situations such as specialization phases or if the stretching is at a low enough intensity to recover from. Yes, I said recover. Stretching even passively still applies a low load tensile force to the muscles and you eccentrically contract as you deepen into a stretch. When the stretching is very intense (by intense I mean expanding into new found territories of range), it gets into the connective tissues (ligaments, tendons) which take much longer to recover from then muscles.

 Doing too much can come in many forms. First, people think they can just add in some intense loaded stretching or “end range strength” into an already sound strength & conditioning program as if there isn’t any recovery demand. There is a misconception that stretching of all types aides in recovery, but if you are stretching to actually get more flexible then there absolutely is an adaptive energy cost which adds extra stress to the system and requires recovery in itself. One might even argue more recovery is needed given the immense inflammatory response produced when creating slight damage to connective tissues. So tacking on middle split iso’s or heavy capsule work at the end of you German volume training 10 x 10 squat workout followed by a metcon might not be very effective and you could be under recovering. Proper flexibility training has a massive strength component to it and needs to be taken into account when addressing overall training volume.

Also, Flexibility is not a motor ability that is excused from living a healthy lifestyle. Be active, eat well, recover well, sleep well, and the adaptations will be favorable. You will get more flexible. If you have real pain while you stretch that goes beyond discomfort, something that feels like an injury, you should get assessed by a Physical Therapist or rehab professional.

Try this, replace 1 gym workout in the week with one intense stretching session focused on your tightest areas. Don’t over complicate it, but the stretching of each area should be done for around 2-5 sets each (depending on the area) using a technique that allows you to reach your maximal end range. In short, intense flexibility sessions should be performed 1-2 times per week. This allows proper recovery to take place so you can stretch a bit further week to week. Of course, this takes a bit of auto regulating to figure out what frequency works best for you Often times if done too much you can see backward progress. Now if total volume/ intensity of a program has been taken into account and you still are not seeing progress, this brings us to the obvious next category.

3) You’re doing too little

 Once again, I’ll reiterate that flexibility is similar to any other aspect of training. It requires enough intensity and time under tension at the end range of motion to signal to the nervous system that your end ranges are safe and you are able to have more. How do we bias the nervous system? Intensity. Too much and the body fights back and you will under recover. Not enough, and there is no stimulus to convince your nervous system to give you more range long term and lay down new tissue.

 When training flexibility You want to really make sure you are working very close to your max end range. Now here’s the thing- people have much more range of motion inside them then what they think is there max range of motion. Typically when gym goers stretch, they don’t use a “sets/ reps” approach as is done in traditional strength training and this is where flexibility training falls short. When you perform multiple sets of a stretch, it allows to get deeper set to set. Now in my experience this typically caps around 5 working sets and you won’t get much deeper after that. When we perform a stretch then rest a bit then go back in to the stretch, you’re nervous system ( or somatosensory cortex ) readjusts the stretch reflex so that you can go deeper next time around. The rest in between is extremely important because it allows for a “digest period” for your nervous system and cells the time they need to calibrate themselves to the new range of motion demands you are placing on them. Your body is doing a lot of things behind the scenes while you rest between sets of flexibility exercises, even when you feel you’re just catching your breath. Depending on stretch intensity the rest should be anywhere between 2-5 minutes! For side split this will be on the higher end, and front split maybe on the lower end of that spectrum. This will allow you to accumulate much more time dedicated to your flexibility training as opposed to 10-15 min full body stretch here and there.

 Understand that consistency matters. A couple times a week depending on the target areas works best. Always start on the lower end of the frequency spectrum because you can always add but can’t take away once it’s too late. If once a week is not giving results, go to twice. If you’re feeling good after twice, try out three times a week etc. Mobilizing throughout the day or stretching during a warm up or cool down is simply not enough to elicit change. Smash it hard like a strength session, recover, then repeat. Working at your end range sucks and is uncomfortable. You must embrace the suck and stay consistent and the results will come.

 4) Only sticking to one type of stretching modality

 Flexibility training is a large blanket term for a bunch of different techniques of stretching. It takes some tinkering and experimentation to figure out what types works best for every individual body. Injury history, training history, and lifestyle play a huge role on the experimentation process as well in what people will respond best to.

 Most people only know about static passive stretching where they hold a position for a period of time and try to melt into a position. This works for some people especially ones who are naturally flexible. Other stiffer types may need to add load to their stretches and treat their flexibility training like strength training in a sense. This is simply because the muscles are already so strong and dense that they need more load to activate the golgi tendon organ reflex. Golgi tendon organs are the sensory organ that sense how much tension you are exerting when lifting heavy objects and it is what allows the muscle to relax in a stretch as a “protective mechanism.” This will inhibit the stretch reflex in the muscle spindle. The muscle spindle is located in the belly of the muscle which senses stretch and causes a reflexive contraction. The GTO and muscle spindle have an inverse relationship.  Ok stretch physiology rant done.

 Loaded stretching can be done in many ways and deserves a whole article dedicated to itself (**cough cough, coming soon). But some examples include taking any stretch and isometrically holding yourself in the position, or dynamically moving in and out of end range like a classic strength exercise but you are focusing more on contracting and pausing at end range instead of just bouncing in and out of it.

 Also to make this type of stretching more effective you can pair these stretches with exercises focused on the agonist through full range or directly at the end range. This is what is called “end range strength.” Here we are trying fire up the muscles responsible for moving us deeper in to the stretch. If the muscle is weak here or under exposed to these short ranges, the nervous system will not allow the lengthening side to move deeper because there is instability on the opposing side of the joint. Examples of this can be end range active hip abduction lifts paired with stretching your groin. Here we are training the muscles responsible to pulling the legs apart to give the body a sense of purpose on how these muscles are supposed to work in a stretch. Then when you stretch your groin in a loaded stretch you can focus on co contracting the glutes to shorten the angle of the stretch and the adductors eccentrically to open the angle.

 And of course you can get very creative with all these different stretching types. Adding ballistic stretches, dynamic leg swings, and joint circles in to a program can also be effective to add some variety and different loads to the system. This process can be confusing to figure out what works best for you so it’s important to find a good coach that can guide you through the process.

 This is by no means a knock on static passive stretching. You look at any movement discipline where people are the most flexible, they would laugh at you while sitting in an over split if you told them the static stretching they do was worthless. It just has to be implemented effectively and be given adequate time to experience an effective release.

5) Patience and time

 I’ll start this section off talking about passive stretching. Most people do not sit in the stretch long enough to experience any type of real release. I wouldn’t put a number on how long you need to hold a stretch, just know if you’ve never experienced a benefit from it then you probably haven’t been holding your stretches long enough. When you are more advanced you can relax into a stretch much quicker, but in the beginning of your journey you need to give yourself time to melt into a stretch. There is a huge benefit of relaxation and the ability to perform deep work by doing static stretching effectively. Passive stretching also comes in handy once you’ve built up a solid amount of range with loaded type stretching to help you get comfortable in the new positions you’ve created.

 Now for time frames. Simply put you need to start thinking in long terms with flexibility development. Just like strength training most beginners will make some solid gains in the first 3 months due to novel stimulus, but after the “neurologic gains” wear off, it can be months or years to see the next bumps in progress. If you give yourself a period of 18 months to 2 years time frame of CONSISTENT work, you probably won’t be disappointed in the progress you’ve made when you look back. If you’re goals are more advanced like full middle split you’ll probably have to give yourself more time depending on your starting point, training history, injury history, etc. In short, keep going!

 Conclusion

 In summary, this is just a list of 5 common categories and there is obviously more things that can impair progress. If you want to get flexible prioritize it in your training.  Most people fail to stick to flexibility training because there is no context behind the training for use in their day to day life. If you do not use it, you won’t train it, therefore you will lose it. See “Mobility- What’s your why?” Do not overdo things as that can sometimes make you move backwards in progress. Not doing enough won’t allow the adaptation process to happen and you won’t lay down any new tissue. Dosing matters just like any other aspect of training whether its strength or aerobic work. Don’t be afraid to test out a different method of stretching or different setups to find out what your individual body needs. There is no one size fits all approach to improving range of motion. And lastly, be patient and be in it for the long haul especially if you want to limit injury. You got all the time in the world. However, understand if you are programming this stuff right then you will be amazed at how fast you can progress when you weed through all the BS. Get a coach, find a program that works for you, and do the damn work.

 Peace

 The Supple Dragon- G$