Just Bend in Half and Tie Your Laces

When I started working on my flexibility, I could not touch my toes. If I had to sit with my feet straight out in front of me it required propping myself up with my arms so I could lean back. Yeah I did really poorly on that stupid hamstring stretch in high school too. That one with the weird half-box wooden contraption you have to push the slider on as you stretch forward. Point is, hamstring flexibility is one of my big goals.

As you know, the only reason I did start flexy training was for pole. I honestly thought I could stretch religiously for a month or two and BAM! I'd be able to slide into a perfect split. I imagined myself bending my back in a loop around the pole and executing amazing, figure-skating-esque spins and translating what I love about that sport into pole. Boy was I wrong--apart from leg flexy training doing little for back flexy--training for the splits can be hard work.



Progress is progress and we take what we can get. I can touch my toes now! If I've really been stretching long, I can lay my head on my knees and push those hamstrings out further. I can even lay my head on my knees in an inverse lunge! Gotta love pole--it really teaches you to appreciate the small successes. That mentality is a big part of the pole community, celebrating each others mini-milestones--and how could we not achieve such amazing feats that way?


If I got my sad, weak stabilizer core muscles up to par I could do this:




And actually, I'll set that as a goal. Why not? Ad Astra per Aspera, Right? ;)