I hadn’t realized how much more stiff my body’s gotten. Back in the day, my back was so flexible it was really hard for me to keep a straight back when I did pushups. I could practically touch my hands and feet together when I did the bridge and I easily touched my heels to my forehead when I leaned back while laying on my belly (similar to the picture shown). Up until high school, I did these types of back-bending exercises often. Then in college it didn’t really come up and over the years I sort of forgot about it. I tried to do it again a few nights ago and uh… yeah, let’s just say my back wouldn’t cooperate.
Some things I still can do, like touch my elbows behind my back and bring my heels all the way in when doing the butterfly stretch. But this? If I point my toes I can get them to touch my head, but it’s not quite the same. I did strain my back a few times since college, which must have tightened my muscles more than I realized. I wonder if I can still do the limbo like I used to too. I was always awesome at that, but I doubt I could get very low nowadays. I think it’s time to get back into yoga so I can regain some of that flexibility while building strength. Now if only I could get around to finding a good studio…