Being Able To Touch My Toes

It's definitely something I have always taken for granted. I don't know whether I grew up naturally flexible (looking at my genetics you wouldn't think so) or the years of dancing and gymnastics are still paying off. But I have always been able to touch my toes with ease, reaching past them if necessary.

I didn't realise how much of an asset this has been for me until I started firstly participating in, and now leading the mobility classes for Imperium Personal Training in South Perth. There are a core group of regular attendees, and we all train together many times through out the week (Shirts of Saturday for example) and there is no holding back when it comes to making fun of each other, in the nicest way possible of course.

But the lack of flexibility is definitely one of those things that generate a lot of laughs coming from our corner in the gym. And when I say lack of flexibility, I was probably the only one who could actually get anywhere near my toes.

So my goal for my first session that I ran, was to have 100% toe touching success by the end of the class. Goal achieved. What more can I say.

But personally, the benefits of easily touching my toes came in handy this morning when I tried a 'Toes to Bar' exercise for the first time this morning. Blessed with pretty amazing hamstring length, the challenge of having the available muscle length to even contemplate reaching the bar was not going to be an issue for me, which just left me with working out what muscles to use and when to make the movement happen. It took me a few goes to get it right, but happy to say I did get there in the end...before the fatigue set in.

Now being a Physio, I'm going to make a quick preach to you saying that everyone has the ability to achieve 'normal' or good hamstring length. It takes a lot of work and persistence, but is of a huge benefit to everyday activities such as sitting, bending and lifting; and is even more important for those who are highly active and are looking to better their performance. So stretch those hami's!!