I'm flexible. I don't know if it's my dance and gymnastics history (yeah it's probably that) or it just comes naturally to me. I'm the kind of flexible where the typical standing quad stretch does nothing. I have to go into a hip flexor stretch, then add the knee flexion and probably a psoas stretch on top of that...I might feel something. Or a kneeling hamstring stretch with one leg straight out in front where your typical person has trouble touching the ground, my elbows are on the floor. So yeah, I'm flexible.
Flexibility is on of these spiral effect things. You gain some muscle length and you can move deeper into a stretch, or have to add a component to continue to feel a stretch, which turns into a whole new position to feel anything. The more flexibility you gain, the stranger the positions you can adapt. Take yoga for example. You start by bending one leg so you foot is sitting over the top of the opposite quad. you then bend forwards and wrap your hands around your outstretched foot. Too easy. So bend that straight leg to plant your foot on the floor directly in front of your hip. Now wrap your same arm around that leg and behind you to meet the other hand and grab hold at the back and voila...human pretzel!
I do a class that focuses on mobility and maintaining joint range of motion and muscle length. I got sent a link to a video by Mobility WOD guru Kelly Starrett, and was pretty much told to make it happen. So I did. Lying on my back, with hips abducted and hips and knees in 90 degrees flexion, the aim is to get you butt as close to the wall as you can, with your feet still pointing perpendicular to the floor and maintaining your hip abduction. Once there, you maintain your foot position and rotate a knee in towards the wall. All of this with a giant rubber band hooked over your knees and around your back pulling your leg bone into your hip socket.
My flexibility meant that it was possible for me, some of the not so bendy....very entertaining!
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