Why it's important to even out your flexibility.

​Let's play a game called:

⁣
In the photo on the left, Yvonne is using her mid back more than any other part of her back (if you look at the front of her body, you can see that her rib cage is at a sharper angle in the photo on the left). Now, this isn’t wrong, and on its own it’s not a big problem. But you WANT to be able to shift into different parts of your flexibility, not just dump into the most flexible spot. Otherwise you start to overuse that one spot, and this can lead to a lot of discomfort and possibly injury. So when we set up for the position again, we made a couple small changes to make the bend more even. And although it is a bit hard to see, if you look closely you’ll notice that her upper back AND shoulders are a lot more involved in the photo on the right!⁣
⁣
Basically, this is all to say that setting an intention for your drills/stretches is just as important as actually doing them. If you mindlessly go through your flex training always feeling just one spot working, you’re really only training that one spot and not developing overall flexibility, which is extremely important for your long-term back flex happiness.

So next time you do your training, be very intentional and focus on what you’re feeling. Shifting the focus may make some positions slightly more uncomfortable, but working on the weaker parts and evening out your flexibility are the BEST ways to ensure you stay injury-free and keep your hard earned flexibility for good!