Welcome to The Flexibility Challenge!

Hello Beautiful People,

Welcome to The Flexibility Challenge!

If you are unsure on where to begin please see the site tutorial!

This is an opportunity to reach our goals, to motivate and inspire ourselves and others, and to share our journey.

Flexibility is a huge part of life, wether it’s just flexibility to feel good in everyday life, for sports, or if you have a passion for extreme bending and contortion.

For me personally I was not really into flexibility. My whole life was more about strength training and I suffered from imbalances.

When I started pole dancing, I had all the strength I needed to do the poses, but they were not pretty because my flexibility was lacking.

I knew I needed to do something about this, I needed to balance out and stretch as much as I do strength exercises.

When I started to make my routine, I realized that a lot of the stretching poses were actually strengthening as well. I also notice that my strength techniques, such as muscle isolation, work really well in stretching too!

Strength and flexibility go hand in hand. If you do not have the arm strength to hold yourself up in a bridge,  it doesn’t matter how flexible you are.

Most of the dynamic stretches are strengthening, and will provide you with a good base; but other basic strengthening moves could be used in conjunction with your flexibility routine.

It is always a good idea to do strengthening moves after the warmup and dynamic stretches, and before static stretches or poses.

Set yourself a solid foundation by setting realistic goals.

I know you all want to get into your splits now, but there are some things you must do first.

1. Learn how to breath properly.
2. Learn how to isolate every single muscle individually.
3. Learn proper form.

With these core techniques you will have greater success on your journey. They key to doing anything is to learn, learn again, and learn some more!

Get A Coach!

I remember when I first started, and my split was probably about a foot off the ground. Luckily I started at a young age with gymnastics 4 days per week, gym class stretches, and all the other sports I was into. I was able to get basic flexibility quickly.

Also because I was a kid, I had more free time than I do now, so on top of all my out-of-house activities, I would practice in my room for hours! I knew that if I wanted something I had to do it, and put the work in!!

My way of thinking was maybe more extreme than an average youngin’s mostly because one of my main sports, wrestling, was extreme. Our slogan was “Pain is temporary, pride is forever.” When I would get tired or weak and I wanted to give up I would say that line to myself over and over with deep breaths. It really does work to have a good motto or mantra for yourself!

We take these experiences from our past and we make a life out of it. I am coming from many different sport backgrounds, coaches, and coaching styles. It’s very easy for me to pick up on athletic activities because I have all these different sayings and experiences stuck in my head, I have built muscle memory, explosive quick twitch muscles, and the ability to see and feel proper form from being yelled at so many times! haha

The bottom line is, if you have never had a coach before to help you with all of these things you may want to start looking for one! There are so many different coaches with many different styles, some are more aggressive and some are softer and more gentle. It also depends on the sport and the history of the sport. Coaching comes in all shapes, and forms you have to find the one that fits you!

If you have found a coach that you really like, please comment on the resources page so I can put him/her in the coach directory.

You can also sign up for a private lesson with me via Skype or google chat. But to be honest you need a coach in your area, one that can spot you and support your movement.

What to Expect in the Upcoming Weeks

You can expect many more tips and tricks articles to help you along your journey. I will also be uploading my progress photos weekly, which I recommend we all do!

I am so excited for the start of The Flexibility Challenge! I can’t wait to see where we all end up in 100 days, but of course the journey after our passions never ends!