Can you still touch your toes?

SimonAH
SimonAH Posts: 3,730
edited June 2012 in Commuting chat
I can't (but at least I can see them which puts me well ahead of most of my colleagues :-D ).

Challenged by a demonstration of flexibility by my eight year old I made a stretch for the ol' pedal extremeties yesterday evening and came up a good four inches short. I can touch them, but only by an elastic lunge rather than a controlled waist bend. As a child I could get my hands almost flat on the floor :-(

So. Alarm your colleagues in the office, give it a go and report!
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Comments

  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    I don't even have to try, I know that I can't. I'm nowhere near and I haven't been able to do it since I was about 12.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Been stretching every day for a couple weeks now. Can firmly get the tips of my fingers under my toes now.

    Is good for having an aggressive position on the bike ;).
    _
  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    edited June 2012
    I can't and have never been able to touch my toes. Not even sure I was able to do it as a child, I don't ever remember being able to.

    I also can't see my toes and haven't been able to since I was a child. The sooner some boffin develops a body transplant technique the better.
    Whippet
  • peat
    peat Posts: 1,242
    Like EKE, i can't recall being able to do it since i was 12-13 when i started my 'growth spurts'. I'm not as flexible as i should be, but i seriously doubt that i could after months of stretching either as i have ludcrously long legs and a small man's torso. Gangley freak.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    edited June 2012
    I have not been able to touch my toes since I was 10 or 11.

    I have been telling myself for a lot of years that I really must do some stretching :oops:

    Edit:- I voted but I am fully aware of my toes and can now fully see them when standing upright for the first time in 15 years :shock: . I just need to use my knees more to touch them :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    I have't voted as the poll doesn't include an "I can see my toes but can't touch them" option.
    Anyway, I have knees that bring my toes so much closer to my hands.

    At my height, the floor is just oh so far away.
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
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    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

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  • mudcovered
    mudcovered Posts: 725
    Can put my hands flat on the floor but that's only after taking up Ashtanga Yoga a few years ago. Before that I couldn't even come close.

    Mike
  • asquithea
    asquithea Posts: 145
    I can do it after I've warmed up a bit.

    I do kickboxing, but struggle a bit with the flexibility. I really need to be able to get near a side split, but can't get anywhere near that.

    Another question: If you stand up and swing a leg loosely up to the side, keeping your toes pointed forward, how high can you get it?
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    No problem, palms flat on the floor. That said, I do have quite short legs in relation to my body height.
    Sun - Rain - Snow
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    There's a bit of a leap from 'easy - flat palms on floor' to the other options, so I went for the 1st one. I can, with a modicum of effort to get the hands flat.
  • nich
    nich Posts: 888
    Yep. I couldn't a couple of years ago.

    Lost a bit of belly fat since then and I've also been stretching regularly :)
  • msmancunia
    msmancunia Posts: 1,415
    Yep, I'm still pretty bendy. Plus I have a typical swimmers body - long arms, fairly short legs.
    Commute: Chadderton - Sportcity
  • londonlivvy
    londonlivvy Posts: 644
    I can put my hands flat on the floor, but I do a lot of yoga (indeed in 3 weeks' time I should be a fully qualified yoga instructor!). And I have quite short legs (proportionally), which helps.

    Cycling is rather the antithesis of flexibility so you have to work quite hard to keep flexible if you ride regularly. If you want to stretch out well after a long ride, I'd really recommend the yoga for cyclists dvd which is great. Stopped me walking like John Wayne the day after a long ride.
    http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    Ladies, none of the blokes on here believe you.

    POIDH!
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
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    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

    I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!
  • mudcow007
    mudcow007 Posts: 3,861
    edited June 2012
    i can touch my toes

    does it still count if im sitting on the floor?

    i have long arms (think mr tickle) short body an long legs like a spider expect my arse doesn't make silk
    Keeping it classy since '83
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    I can bite my toenails.... does that count?
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
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  • mudcow007
    mudcow007 Posts: 3,861
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    I can bite my toenails.... does that count?

    tumblr_l3qa4oKweR1qzcdxzo1_500.jpg
    Keeping it classy since '83
  • iclestu
    iclestu Posts: 503
    There comes a point in one's life where simply still being able to SEE one's toes is the real achievement. Touching them is overrated
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  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Can do, but that's probably in the last couple of years when I remembered what exercise was.
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  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,768
    I agree with EKE and Iclestu. Used to be able to as a kid but I have knees and it's overrated anyway.
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  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    londonlivvy wrote:
    I can put my hands flat on the floor, but I do a lot of yoga (indeed in 3 weeks' time I should be a fully qualified yoga instructor!). And I have quite short legs (proportionally), which helps.

    Cycling is rather the antithesis of flexibility so you have to work quite hard to keep flexible if you ride regularly. If you want to stretch out well after a long ride, I'd really recommend the yoga for cyclists dvd which is great. Stopped me walking like John Wayne the day after a long ride.
    Which one is that as there seems to be a few.
    Whippet
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,342
    Only with a bit of effort - I've had tight hamstrings since before my teens - had excruciating physio for it at the time. Otherwise, I'm fairly flexible.

    I caught my 8 month old daughter investigating whether she could get her toes up her nose the other day. Have to admit, I was slightly envious.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
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  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    I can touch my toes comfortably, but the leap to flat-handing is a step too far for this ex-footballer.

    Also, the raising one's leg to the side question raised upthread... my efforts at that are pitiful, but that's related to the reason I stopped playing football.
    Ben

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  • londonlivvy
    londonlivvy Posts: 644
    suzyb wrote:
    londonlivvy wrote:
    I can put my hands flat on the floor, but I do a lot of yoga (indeed in 3 weeks' time I should be a fully qualified yoga instructor!). And I have quite short legs (proportionally), which helps.

    Cycling is rather the antithesis of flexibility so you have to work quite hard to keep flexible if you ride regularly. If you want to stretch out well after a long ride, I'd really recommend the yoga for cyclists dvd which is great. Stopped me walking like John Wayne the day after a long ride.
    Which one is that as there seems to be a few.

    The one by Andria Baldovin is the one I liked, Suzy :
    http://www.roughrideguide.co.uk/Yoga-for-Cyclists.html
    or downloadable from here :
    http://www.yoga-ventures.com/yfcy.html

    There's also done a mini guide to yoga for cyclists (free) on here
    http://www.menshealth.com/yoga/cms/uploads/1/MH-yoga-cycle.pdf
    http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/
  • Yukirin
    Yukirin Posts: 231
    still? Never have been able to and always had a clear line of sight to the toes.
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    Yep I can! I regularly stretch my hams etc at the gym. I can't put my hands flat on the floor but I can bend down and reach them behind my heels with my legs straight...
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  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    londonlivvy wrote:
    suzyb wrote:
    londonlivvy wrote:
    I can put my hands flat on the floor, but I do a lot of yoga (indeed in 3 weeks' time I should be a fully qualified yoga instructor!). And I have quite short legs (proportionally), which helps.

    Cycling is rather the antithesis of flexibility so you have to work quite hard to keep flexible if you ride regularly. If you want to stretch out well after a long ride, I'd really recommend the yoga for cyclists dvd which is great. Stopped me walking like John Wayne the day after a long ride.
    Which one is that as there seems to be a few.

    The one by Andria Baldovin is the one I liked, Suzy :
    http://www.roughrideguide.co.uk/Yoga-for-Cyclists.html
    or downloadable from here :
    http://www.yoga-ventures.com/yfcy.html

    There's also done a mini guide to yoga for cyclists (free) on here
    http://www.menshealth.com/yoga/cms/uploads/1/MH-yoga-cycle.pdf
    Might be worth a look. OH talked me into going to her yoga class with her last year but after a few easy weeks it started to become bloomin hard work, and the calm down routine at the end was so relaxing that it sent me into a state of relaxed that disturbed the rest of the group, me being the bloke in the corner snoring away. She suggested I stop going.
  • NGale
    NGale Posts: 1,866
    Never have been able to touch my toes, even when I was doing karate as a youngster.

    I too was one of those who could bite my own toenails :roll: in fact still can on my right foot due to a second dislocation of my hip when I was 10 (born with both hips dislocated as well)
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  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,677
    Barely able to make contact these days. Was a time when I could comfortably sit in splits, front and side, but that's a long way back in the last century....

    My one and only attempt at water-skiing put paid to it finally - a spectacular crash (apparently) with legs going in all kinds of directions that were never intended by nature. Result: right hammy torn, and left leg in a bad way.
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  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    How many sessions is it as the download seems to be single sessions.
    londonlivvy wrote:
    suzyb wrote:
    londonlivvy wrote:
    I can put my hands flat on the floor, but I do a lot of yoga (indeed in 3 weeks' time I should be a fully qualified yoga instructor!). And I have quite short legs (proportionally), which helps.

    Cycling is rather the antithesis of flexibility so you have to work quite hard to keep flexible if you ride regularly. If you want to stretch out well after a long ride, I'd really recommend the yoga for cyclists dvd which is great. Stopped me walking like John Wayne the day after a long ride.
    Which one is that as there seems to be a few.

    The one by Andria Baldovin is the one I liked, Suzy :
    http://www.roughrideguide.co.uk/Yoga-for-Cyclists.html
    or downloadable from here :
    http://www.yoga-ventures.com/yfcy.html

    There's also done a mini guide to yoga for cyclists (free) on here
    http://www.menshealth.com/yoga/cms/uploads/1/MH-yoga-cycle.pdf
    Whippet

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