Good things and bad things.

[Doc_Lobster]

First the good: in my spin class tonight there was a new girl who apparently came with a friend. She was DYING. She couldn't maintain any of the out of the saddle stuff for more than a few seconds, she had a hard time even keeping pace on the flat, etc. and then I thought to myself that that used to be me. That was me a year and something ago when I took my first spin class, and now I can do all of it. I can do everything the instructor says and at the right level. I often feel kind of crummy about my fitness because I have a couple of friends who are both physically gifted and lifelong athletes, and they are just SO much better than I am at everything. It was nice to get a reminder that even though I am not at their level, I have come a long damn way in the last two years.

(I hope no one thinks this is mean, i don't intend it that way. She got my regular bike and was in front of me, so that is why I noticed this. I normally don't pay attention to what people are doing.)

Now the bad: my legs are ridiculously inflexible. Seriously, I think I have about half an inch of give in all of my leg muscles and glutes. I have been going to yoga for like a year and a half, and I can still just barely get my finger tips to the floor and even that is super uncomfortable. Not for lack of trying, either. I really do try. This is extra weird and annoying because the rest of me is bendy like gumby. I can do anything involving twisting/rotation or my upper body, and most of the time I don't even feel a stretch. But anything involving my lower body is like an 80 year old woman in not terribly good shape. What is up with this??? It is very frustrating.

Is it because I have disproportionately thick tree-trunk legs?

[Wines Not Whines]

I am horribly inflexible, especially in my hamstrings and hips. I think it's mostly genetics, unfortunately. I'm sure my long distance running doesn't help either. I totally sympathize.

[vanillahip]

I too am Gumby up top and inflexible from the waist down. A couple of years of yoga was HELPFUL, but I saw the biggest change when I started running, because my hips were so painfully tight that I'd sit in pigeon every day while I watched tv to loosen up. I'm still not doing the splits- I don't think I ever will- but serious work and holding poses after yoga is what really made me improve!

(Edit to fix my phone's royal fuckup lol)

[Deleted]

It took 2 years of kickboxing training to get my hips to loosen up, but my hamstrings are still like rocks. I get yelled at by the stretching guy at the gym (he comes in to the end of all the classes and leads stretching - he finds me EVERY CLASS and gives me crap about my hams).

So I understand your pain!

[Wines Not Whines]

I like pp's idea of sitting in pigeon while watching TV. My hips are so tight that I can't even get both of them on the floor during pigeon. I need help!