Total Stretch 5

Months of working on stretching to achieve my goal of getting my needle, I have sadly not reached my goal. It may take me longer to build up my flexibility for my back. For some people it takes them a little longer because they weren't born with natural flexibility. I am one of those people. To me, I feel like my back actually lost some flexibility, but that's okay because I still have the motivation to reach my goal of getting my needle. Here are some of the new stretches that I tried and will add to my stretching routine to become more flexible.

The first new stretch that I tried out was called "The Standing Back Bend", this was a moderate/hard stretch (57). 

This stretch was actually kind of hard for me because it was hard to go all the way back without pushing myself too hard to the point where I would hurt myself. It was hard to control how far I went because gravity kept on forcing me back farther so I had to use my hands for support. In the text it states "2. Lean back as far as you can without pushing your self too far, put your hands on your side" (57). So I altered this stretch a little to reduce the chance of injury. Overall this stretch was a little too hard for me, but in the future I plan to put my hands on my side instead of the back of my legs so I can make this stretch a little more difficult for me and it will also improve my flexibility every time I try to improve on my stretches. 

The second stretch I tried was called "Back Twist", this was an easy stretch (59).

This stretch was a very easy stretch and also felt relaxing. I really felt the stretch in my lower back. This stretch was very helpful too because it stretched my back by twisting my back instead of leaning back. This was a total different way than all of the other stretches I have been doing and this has really benefited me. Stretches that stretch parts of your body in a new and different way can really benefit you. In the "Different stretches" section Roscoe Nash states, "If you try different stretches then what you are used too, it may help improve your flexibility..." (88). This really convinced me to try these new stretches that I learned from the book because I saw that if I tried new stretches my flexibility had a better chance of improving. This stretch specifically related to this quote because all of the stretches that I learned from this book and stretches that I previously known have all had to do with leaning back, not twisting. This stretches challenged me in a way that benefited me. 

Here is my most recent attempt of a getting a full needle:

Some things that I need to work on to improve my needle is, lifting my chest up and holding my leg at my calf. Even though I did not get a full needle with my legs in a complete splits position, I will keep motivating myself to get my needle and one say I will reach my goal! 

Don't give up on something if you don't get it right away because it takes some people longer to achieve a goal. You have to have motivation to be able to achieve your goal. Keep challenging yourself and don't give up because you will meet your goal one day.

Question:

Has there ever been something that you have tried to achieve but just never achieved it? If so, what was it and did you give up or are you still trying to reach that goal?

Citation: 

Nash, Roscoe. Total Stretch. London: MQ, 2003. Print.