The benefits of stretching every day for 30 days
You know that woman who really goes "ass in the grass" when she squats? Or how about that person you saw in yoga class who is so hunched over she should rename a pose in her honor? I am not one of those women.
I am the exact opposite of flexible.
I can't touch my toes, breaking parallel while squatting requires some real hip TLC, and more than one CrossFit coach has told me that my lack of mobility and flexibility prevents me from getting better and faster.
So, in the name of athleticism and improved mobility, I challenged myself (or more accurately, surrendered my tight hamstrings and hip flexors) to a 30-day split challenge. I had tried one before30 day squat challenge, so I knew if I really wanted to make a lasting difference, consistency was key.
The month started with a lot of questions: Could a month-long getaway with my yoga mat, some stretching, and 10 to 15 minutes a day help reverse the effects of my daily work routine? Would this really work even for my yoga antithetical self?
Thirty days later my hips have stopped popping, creaking, popping every time I sit down. My knees no longer creak like bubble wrap during squat-focused workouts, and my lower back feels less "rubbery" during my work day. My attitude has also changed, at least according to my friend from the gym, who looked me up and down suspiciously and said to me, "You look taller today, GK".
Whether or not I can get into a split as gracefully as the curvy stars you see on Instagram, keep reading to find out.
I train, run and do CrossFit regularly. I also try to take a yoga class at least twice a month so that I have a fairly good idea of what my body can and cannot do.
But when I reached out to my favorite fitness expert, physical therapist Grayson Wickham, DPT, CSCS, founder ofMovement safe, he made it clear that there is a right way and a wrong way to solve a challenge like this.
"This is a good idea, but you have to make sure you don't do too much too soon," he says. "Think of your muscles as rubber bands, which are elastic in nature. If you stretch them too far before they're ready, they can break or get injured."
My #1 rule is moving forward
Don't force it. The last thing I wanted was to hurt myself.
Wickham also warns, "The way you're going to manage the splits and gain flexibility and mobility is practice." He compared it to my back squat: "Just like it took you 18 months to increase your back squat by 30 pounds, this change doesn't happen overnight. So get yourself there. But 30 days is enough to make some progress." see,” he says.
Of course, it could be that he was trying to temper my expectations. But as a former college athlete and current CrossFit competitor, I saw it as a challenge.
"I want to get a split," I told myself as I googled plans online that would help me achieve my goals and wake up my malleable self.
The fact thatBlogilate's 30 Days & 30 Stretches to Splits-projecthas a community-based approach (via#The trip to SplitsIn#blogson Instagram) was definitely positive for someone like me with a history of team sports and CrossFit, which is known for its "Fit Fam" vibe.
But before I printed the card, I called yoga instructor and mobility coach Alexandra Sheppard, CF-L1, 200hr Yoga Cert, to ask her opinion.
"To do a split, you need flexible hamstrings, hip flexors, and some other small muscles in your legs," she says.
During the challenge, you must perform stretches every day using numbers 1 through 5 (out of 30), your core exercises. So on day 6 you do 1 to 5 and 6, and on day 18 you do 1 to 5 and 18, and so on and so forth, holding each stretch for a minute and stretching for a total of 10 minutes at a time. day. Sheppard confirms that the variety of stretches in this 30-day challenge was really positive because each stretch would help work all the small muscles.
Once I committed to the plan, I printed it out and set daily reminders for I work from home and thought an afternoon stretch session would be a nice break from work. I was ready to start my journey to a bright and flexible future.
Week One: I realized how rigid I am
Time:10 minutes per day
You know the saying: you don't know how brave you are until you face adversity. Well, I didn't know how rigid I was until I was confronted with some moves that require flexibility. Excercise.
The first day my alarm went off with the same tune I wake up with in the morning. This startled me so much (pun intended) that I jumped out of my chair and hit my kneecaps against my desk. I immediately changed my ring reminder for the rest of the month to one that is much quieter (egBon Iver zong, if you had to know).
Then I turned on my favorite lamp, stripped off my jeans and put on some go-anywhere leggings, and moved to the giant rug (which is so soft it's actually a giant yoga mat) on the other side of my bedroom/ kontor / mobility den, and appealed to my inner yogi.
For the next 10 minutes, I bent, folded, pulled, and threw my body into positions my body was definitely not used to. I held each position for a minute as instructed - which truly felt like the longest minute of my life. By the end of those 10 minutes, my hips felt a little looser, but those minutes weren't easy.
The rest of the first week was pretty much the same: Every day at 2 p.m., I alternated my routine of computer work and caffeine crashes with split stretches.
Wickham says I had to pay attention to how my body felt while stretching, especially in the first week.
"If you ever feel any tightness or discomfort, come out of the stretch and try to get back into it slowly," he advises. "Sometimes that helps make it feel better. If it still hurts, try changing the angle a bit. And if you ever feel a sharp or tingling pain, stop."
The first week I had to adjust a lot. But by the end of the week, my body felt more comfortable taking and holding each position for 60 seconds.
Week two: I did it piece by piece
Time:15 minutes (5 minutes warm-up + 10 minutes challenge) per day
The first week I did my best not to push too hard while stretching. But given how sore I was, I was afraid something was wrong. Keeping my promise to myself not to get hurt, I called Sheppard to check in.
"You're probably stretching too much," she says when I explain that my hips felt sore and my hamstrings were at a level of pain I had just lifted. "You're pushing your body to the limit of what it's used to doing when you stretch."
Rec tip:Just like strength training, when you stretch deeply, you create tiny tears in the muscle fibers, which is why you're in pain, says Sheppard. Warm up with simple stretches, such as reaching for your toes, before doing more complex stretches.
She said that since I wasn't feeling any sharp pain it probably wasn't a problem, but if I was worried (and I was!) I should spend a few extra minutes warming up with even simpler stretches before I go out came some of the more complicated ones from the calendar.
So I added a 5 minute warm up to my routine and increased it to 15 minutes. And it helped.
I had less pain from the actual stretching during the second week and I started to see some small improvements in how deep I could get into my lunges and tucks.
Week three: I missed a day and felt it
Time:15 minutes (5 minutes warm-up + 10 minutes challenge) per day
The Split Challenge says, "Keep to the 30 days. Don't skip a single day. Promise? That's how you get into the split." Well, on day 23 I pouted.
Between deadlines, snoozed at 2 p.m. notifications, and a trip to pick up my visiting sister at the airport, my 15-minute stretch went to the bottom of my to-do list and I skipped it altogether.
And honestly, on day 24, I understood why the creator, Cassey Ho, was so insistent on consistency: These pieces felt so much harder after a day off, especially the dropouts.
I spent nearly 18 minutes stretching that day, which helped shake off some of the stuffiness of not stretching from the day before. I returned to my "scheduled programming" for the rest of the week.
Week Four: I stretched longer and felt strong
Time:25 minutes: 15 minutes (5 minutes warm-up + 10 minutes challenge) in the afternoon during the day, plus 10 minutes after CrossFit
Scroll through#The trip to Splitstag made it clear that other challengers were much closer to the split than me! So with only a week left in my challenge, and still pretty far from my ultimate goal of hitting a split, I was getting a little impatient. I decided to add another stretch to my routine post workout.
“Stretching after a workout allows you to open up your muscles a little more deeply because they are super warm from the activity you just did,” says Sheppard.
With three days left in the challenge, I hit a back squat PR during CrossFit. This success was probably no coincidence. Tight hips = weaker booty. A
Perhaps opening my hips for the extra few minutes a day would have helped me increase the activation of the muscles in my buttocks, which led me to squat more. I want to thank my newly loosened hips for my magically stronger buttocks.*praying hands*nee, Blogilates.
I'm not one to say things have value when they don't. But after sticking to the plan for a few weeks, I noticed a legit difference! And one about everything.
As I walked through my apartment, I sounded less like the broken wind chimes in a haunted house. My hips felt less agitated and more open both during my sitting day and during CrossFit, where I regularly squatted.
While I may not go back to the top of the calendar and repeat the shared challenge, I learned a lot about spending some time each day stretching and the art of patience.
But the most important thing I learned was how much a dedicated mobility practice affects, well, everything! My posture, my performance at CrossFit (like I said, back squat PR!), my level of aches and pains, and even how hard it is to bend over and pick something up, like a hairbrush, off the floor.
Of course, it's only been 30 days, so no, I haven't hit that split, and my flexibility is far from being labeled "good." But I can't help but wonder how much my flexibility will continue to improve if I add challenge stretches to my post-workout routine.
Do you have to?
Whether you should do a shared 30-day challenge depends on your goals. "Being able to do a split is a very specific goal," says Sheppard. "I know people who can't do a split, but have enough mobility and flexibility to move well and live injury-free."
But flexible hamstrings and moving hip joints don't just determine how bent you are. As Sheppard rightly points out, the benefits you get from being flexible can help improve form, range of motion, performance, and prevent the risk of injury associated with your back.
I spent two and a half decades tightening these hips, of course it would take longer than 30 days to loosen them! But all is not lost, even if I didn't quite get the splits right - my flexibility is still better than it was, I've seen real improvements in my cardio performance, and I feel like a much more complete athlete than I did 30 days ago. Oh, and did I mention I can finally touch my toes?
Gabrielle Kassel (she/her) is a queer sex educator and wellness journalist dedicated to helping people feel their best in their bodies. In addition to Healthline, her work has appeared in publications such as Shape, Cosmopolitan, Well+Good, Health, Self, Women's Health, Greatist, and more! In her spare time, Gabrielle trains CrossFit, reviews pleasure products, walks her border collie, or records episodes of the podcast she co-hosts called The Call.Bad in bed. Follow her on Instagram @Gabriel leaking.
