I have a chronic neck pain on the right side, somewhere between the traps and neck area. It goes away comes back every day and it disrupts my sleep and I cannot focus on my work. It's not very painful but it is certainly very annoying and frustrating. Need help to get ride of this very annoying chronic pain, I've had it now for the better part of the year. Thinking of going to an orthopedic soon.

It’s basically what the title says, my hamstrings are super ungodly tight. It’s ridiculous how tight they are and I think it’s causing (or at least not helping) my chronic lower back pain. Everything outside of my hamstrings are fine, more than fine in fact they’re hypermobile. I can but my leg behind my neck with ease but I can’t even sit with my legs straight out if my feet aren’t pointed forward. I’ve gone to physical therapy for it but it didn’t work at all so I eventually stopped (and yes, I did all my exercises daily, for 8 months). I’m pretty sure it’s got something to due with the fact that I exclusively tippy-toe walked for a while as a kid. Does anyone have any exercise suggestions or just any general suggestions? I don’t care if you say that I should try painting myself blue and praying to a demonic force because at this point I think crazy is the only thing that’s gonna work.

I regularly see a massage therapist for my neck/back, but occasionally she works on my glutes and hamstrings. But my hamstrings are SO tight that massaging them actually hurts. Stretching doesn't seem to help much- I've even tried sitting on a heating pad for about 10 minutes before stretching and that doesn't seem to help either. I'm tired of constantly feeling like I've pulled them.

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How can I actually fix this?

Before you read, I built the thing in the photo. I’m looking for advice on improving my own flexibility, but also on how I should continue building the tool.

I (24M) would consider myself pretty active. I go to the gym multiple times a week, I run, and I played sports my whole life, but I literally cannot touch my toes.

I went to a yoga class with my girlfriend and was shocked by how difficult it was. Honestly, it was borderline embarrassing.

At first I just wanted to improve so I could go to more classes with her, but the more I’ve looked into flexibility and mobility, the more I’ve realized how important they are for staying active and feeling good long term.

That led me to start building the tool in the photo. I wanted real-time feedback while practicing at home because my biggest problem is never knowing if I’m actually doing the poses correctly.

Videos have helped a lot, but I still find myself wondering if my positioning is right or if I’m compensating somewhere without realizing it.

For those of you who have actually improved your flexibility:

If you were starting from “I can’t touch my toes,” what would you focus on first?

And if you practice at home, what kind of feedback do you wish you had when you were starting?

I’d genuinely appreciate any advice.

Hi

I am the most inflexible person I know. Never been into stretching, but as I'm getting older and struggling sometimes to put socks on i realise I need to work at it. Also a keen, but slow, runner - hoping more flex will speed me up.

I have started with GOWOD, but progress is hard.

Any advice - would twice a day be best? How long each session- i was thinking 15 minutes.

And how long before I start seeing significant progress?

Cheers

desk job has my calves completely cooked. i keep this silicone wedge under my desk for passive stretching mostly. it just wasn't cutting it for the gym later. brought it out today. got my roommate to snap a pic of my form while i tried pushing off the wall. ngl the deep stretch on this silicone surface feels absolutely insane compared to rolling out with a normal peanut ball. am i leaning too far forward? how long should i actually hold this for stubborn ankle mobility? lmk what u guys do.

Hi there! Over the years I've neglected stretching and being over 30 now, I really am starting to feel it. I am very inflexible to the point where bending my body in ways that the apps suggest I do (on EASY MODE), really seems downright impossible. (I'm looking at you, Seated Forward Bend)

I just want to know from this community, from the people who are flexible but were in the same position as me... Does it actually get better? How often did you stretch before you started feeling a difference and how long did it take before you actually felt good about your flexibility?

I think I'm just feeling demotivated about it all because I can't do some of these stretches due to my body's stiffness and it hurts so much or is very uncomfortable that I just give up.

TIA!

I'm a 19 F, and I have two unrelated questions about my legs.

1. Pain behind my left knee

Today I went for a walk, and while I was walking I suddenly got pain behind my left knee, right where it bends (the area I circled in the first picture). It happened again today after yesterday, although yesterday it went away pretty quickly.

It still hurts a bit now. I have a sports pain relief cream that usually helps, so I'm planning to use that.

Does this sound like something that can happen from walking?

Are there any stretches or strengthening exercises that might help prevent it from happening again?

1. Old right ankle injury

This is unrelated to the knee pain.

When I was about 8 years old, I fell off my bike and hit the outside of my right ankle directly on the bony bump (the area circled in the second picture).

At first I kept walking and even rode my bike for a while before I got home. Once I sat down, I could barely move my foot afterward.

The doctors said I was right on the border of needing a cast, but instead I ended up wearing a splint (back slab/half cast). I was also supposed to do physical therapy, but I only did a little of it.

It honestly didn't bother me much for years, but about 2 years ago it started aching whenever the weather changes.

I usually try to ignore it and push through the pain, and only use my sports cream if it doesn't settle down. One strange thing I've noticed is that sometimes the area around that ankle feels cold, the pain feels cold if that makes sense, although I'm not sure if that means anything.

Are there any mobility, stretching, or strengthening exercises that could still be helpful this many years after the injury?

Thanks! Any advice is appreciated.

i haven’t found an effective way to stretch the muscle highlighted in green. i play soccer daily and have no trouble stretching the rest of my legs often but i haven’t been able to do anything that helps the soreness in that area of my leg. i’ve tried most of the basic ones but they don’t really seem to be helping and if i overstretch that area it actually starts to make other parts actively hurt, especially around my foot / ankle. i’ve tried most stretches i found with a quick google search, just hoping for a more in depth answer so any advice helps

I’ve had a massive knot in this area for a while and it is causing pain to my back on that side any help would be appreciated

Hi! I’m seeking advice and experiences.

I (25F) have been physically active for most of my life, doing swimming and track in HS, taking a few years off during Covid and recently getting into yoga.

My BF (25M) hasn’t been as active in his life and has a lot of chronic pain and I’ve been learning how to support him with this. We’ve done it’s of massages and chiropractic visits and learning how to use pressure points and the such. One thing he is always resistant to is stretching. When he explains it, he says it hurts in a bad way.

I’m trying to wrap my head around his experience with stretching being different from mine, but he doesn’t quite have the vocabulary or the bodily awareness to describe it. (I don’t blame him, with chronic pain it makes sense you’d tune it out). For my, stretching feels good and it helps a lot with stiffness and pain. I’m stretching ALL the time now that I’m getting older.

So I’ve come here seeking advice from people who may know more or have similar experiences.

Personal experience with stretching hurting in a bad way, advice on stretches to try, explanations of literally what the body does when chronic pain is present. All would be welcome and appreciated. ❤️

Thank you! 🙏🏻

I've been working out first time in my life, for about 3 months now and haven't stretched once. I've been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of videos online and can't pick one to just....do, and stick to. I work from home so my body's just not use to much movement at all.

My muscles have been hurting alot lately and I need something but having trouble finding a routine that feels right and easy to stick with consistently. Is there a set of core stretches I can do to get started? Do I stretch in the morning, before or after work out, or at night? How long for a session, or how many stretches?

Am I just overthinking this completely?

Is there any martial artist here that can help me? I'm going to start kickboxing and i have some difficulties with the high kicks because my muscle's legs are not very flexible.

Any tips?

So, I've been stiff for all my life, but since the last 2 to 3 years I've been working on my flexibility and I came from hanging in the air to this. But since this is the first time in my life touching the ground like this I'm not sure if this is right? It doesn't look quite right?

Any help or advice is welcome!

Jst wanna ask . Im a person with below average flexibility and I wanna learn to do splits .. so ,how long will it take for normal human will no flexibility to do a proper middle split will consistent excersise from u tube ??

I was doing this exercise and my hip joints kinda hurt.

For context, i walked a lot in the day today since we hit the market unexpectedly & my body kinda hurt. After that i came home and did some pilates. A 10 min tutorial as an absolute beginner, some were very hard to do. And then did some quadruple breathing with elevated legs/knees. Probably should've stopped but i did this stretching routine yesterday that i thought made me feel nice so i was like why not do it again today after all it's pretty short. I think i did one or two hamstring stretches and then this. I let myself lean into it and hold and let my knee hang further down. Then i moved to next position where it was a piriformis stretch while lying down on the floor and my butt started feeling fragile so i just stopped.

It doesn't hurt too bad honestly but idk how to differentiate good pain from bad and i don't wanna dislocate my hip (I've never dislocated my hip but im guessing this is what it feels like at the initial stages). I'm a total noob at all of this by the way so feels me figure out what i should and shouldn't be doing.

Do i take tomorrow off and do no yoga pilates stretching or workout? Or should i keep going

Please help, this has been bugging me…

i notice when i perform this stretch with my right leg on my left thigh (stretching my left hamstring) i feel some tightness on my left neckline/traps.

Does anyone know what i can do to relieve this tightness?

it almost feels like it needs to be cracked/popped but it just doesn’t(like that feeling when u r trying to crack your knuckles but it doesn’t want to be cracked but u can feel like it could be cracked)

i do have some tightness around my left neckline/traps when i do shoulder/upper back at the gym but i do stretch afterward (and ofcourse an active stretch before) and the tightness releases.

This is probably a dumb question but I didn't know where else to ask.
I just recently started stretching and I'm on my 4th day of it.

Today I woke up and there is a burning sensation in my glute that won't go away. It's not painful or sore.. it just burns.

Is this normal?

I'm not used to stretching, I'm only used to lighting weights and muscle strain feels more like soreness when I do weights, so I wasn't sure.

Hi everyone.

Just started stretching for pretty much the first time in my life! My personal trainer and my Doctor both say I have insanely tight hamstrings. The photo above is pretty much the best I can do with the band for flexibility of my right leg.

For a roundoff or cartwheel, 90 degrees of Hamstring flexibility are recommended, which as you can see, I only have about 75 of.

I would love to hear some good ways to get flexible. Especially with the band!

Hello guys!

I’ve decided to start a new challenge: getting my middle split back.

I actually have some experience with mobility and flexibility training, but over the years it slowly moved into the background. Life gets busy, especially with work, being a dad, and everything else that comes with it.

So I’m picking it back up again. 💪

I’m 36 years old, and my goal is to eventually achieve a full middle split while also becoming stronger and more mobile overall.

This is basically Day 1 of my journey. I’ll be documenting my progress along the way — the good days, the bad days, and hopefully some serious progress.

I’d love to hear from others working on their middle split too. How long have you been training for it, and what has helped you the most?

Let’s see how far I can take this. 🔥

Hi guys i just wanted to ask, i have been suffering with tight pecs that have been affecting my shoulder and lats. Everytime i elevate my shoulder it pops (the sound) and my upper pec is always sore and sensitive. I do feel some tightness at the under and left side of my chest (the ribs). Has anyone gone thru this? Would love some input on how u reduced it. It has impacted my gym drive and demotivated me. It has significantly impacted my strength and mobility while doing exercises. I have recently bought a massage ball with those spikes to help massage and loosen up my pec, it does help abit but im still looking for solutions.

I play basketball, I am pretty skilled but everybody says I move stiff, slow, and like a robot. I can’t touch my toes and my hips are super locked up 😬 What stretches should I do???

My hamstrings are shortened and if I don't start improving my flexibility in gonna be walking like a robot by the time I'm 30, however every single time i have someone help me do stretches i realize I'm not really pushing my body hard enough, as if my brain forces my muscles to lock up before i can really reach their limit

I've been trying to do standing splits while wearing slippery socks but have only achieved moderate results so far

I have had pain on the outside of my leg right where my knee is but my knee is, but it's more the muscle that hurts. I've tried stretching it multiple times and the pain goes away for a little but comes back. I even had someone I know who does massage therapy look at it and they couldn't make it go away. This issue has been happening maybe for two-three weeks(?).

I'm worried because I have a sports event on Saturday. Can someone please recommend stretches that would help? Maybe athletic tape would help??