Toe Touching Routine

This is to measure your baseline level of mobility. It’s easy to measure and assesses the general flexibility of your body with the forward reach test. Your range is affected by the combination of the mobility of your nerves, spine, hips and the flexibility of your hamstrings and calves.

• Sit with your feet flexed against a step or small box. Sit up tall and make sure that your knees stay straight. Slowly, tip forward from the hips, reaching the hands as far forward as you can. Breathe in gently, then breathe out and see if you can sink a little deeper into the stretch.
• You only need to spend about 10 seconds to find your true range.
  • Measure the distance you are away from the box in centimeters with a ruler.
  • If you are able to touch the box (your toes) and go further with your knees straight and the feet flexed at 90 degrees, you could measure how far your hands extend beyond the box.
• TAKE A PHOTO! You would have wished you had a “before” photo to complement your “after” photo!

Do NOT use this seated forward-bend (pike stretch) as your main or only stretch.

It is too easy for you to yank on your lower back if you’re trying to touch your toes. You shouldn’t be directly stretching your lower back for extended periods of time.  This is typically reserved for more advanced trainees and for very specific goals. (Not everybody wants to be a contortionist.)

For more info on why you shouldn’t be stretching the lower back or more info on how to RELAX the lower back, refer to the FAQ section.

“An inability to cleanly touch the toes could be due to generalized stiffness and most likely also a movement dysfunction. A hip hinge [explained below] ultimately spares the spine and loads the hips so the hips do most of the dynamic work. The spine statically, without movement, transmits the energy to the upper body. The spine can only be stable if the hips are mobile. If the hips are not mobile, the spine cannot be stable.” – Gray Cook

For more info read: What’s in a toe-touch by Gary Cook and watch this video clip about toe-touching.

Other reasons to work on flexibility? If your shoulder, wrist, or elbow is injured and you can’t do your normal strength training, it’s very helpful to work on hip flexibility in the meantime while the rest of your body heals.

A lot of people don’t have the proper movement pattern down. I know I didn’t. So here are some videos that will fix that.

• This video provides a GREAT drill that teaches you how to hinge at the hips FIRST before you try to round your back and touch your toes!

• Then, follow this Toe-Touch Progression. It’s a 5 minute corrective sequence that stops your nervous system from putting the brakes on during the toe touch and limiting your range. This could change your toe-touch in a matter of minutes.  To see how the same toe-touch progression helps a lay person, watch this. (The props they use may be silly, but whatever works!)
• Get the most out of your Standing Pike: This informational video provides an excellent demonstration of how to maximize the lengthening of your hamstrings PROPERLY before rounding down to touch your toes. It reinforces the importance of hip-hinging and more.

I’m a little overwhelmed… what should I DO?

1. First, choose one stretch from the Auxiliary section for each body part. Let’s say pigeon pose, couch stretch and one of the calf stretches. Hold each of these for 10 breaths at least.
2. Then, choose one stretch from the Main section, let’s say Downward Dog and hold it for 3-4 sets, for 30-60seconds.
3. Choose whatever feels good from the Extras section.
4. Do this stuff everyday!

Oh and if you have never done the hip-hinging drills and toe-touch progressions, make sure you do those first to get the proper movement pattern down. 🙂

Is there a video I could just follow along and get fairly flexible with?

I made a 35 minute yoga video complete with a warm up and it ends with lots of deep release for your glutes and hamstrings and more. A lot of the auxiliary/main stretches are included in this video but in a yoga-class format.

I’m a little short on time, what should I focus on?

Focus on a main stretch that works on the hamstrings. Do whatever else you have time for after.

How often do I need to stretch?

Stretching daily is nice. However, with that said, you don’t need to stretch vigorously each time. In fact, it is recommended that you stretch with maximum intensity only 1-2x a week and adjust the intensity on the other days. The body needs to heal and adapt to the demands you are placing on it, especially when it comes to connective tissues (tendons and ligaments). Consistency is key, however, so don’t just hold a stretch for 5-10 seconds and think that’s enough. Choose exercises that challenge you, be patient and don’t forget to breeeaaaathe.

How long to stay in a static stretch?

Sets of 30-60seconds are needed for it to be effective. If you do a stretch for 3-5 sets of 30-60seconds, you’ve pretty much hit the neurological limits for the day! What works for me is to stay in a stretch for 10 breaths. This ensures that I am not holding my breath and I am in it for a long enough time.

How could I program this in with my workout?

When you are done working out, you are quite warm/hot, so it’s nice to stretch immediately after working out. It saves time, it’s efficient and it’s safer that way cause you don’t have to worry about warming up.

What about soft-tissue work?

I’m a huge fan of self massage by the use of foam rollers and lacrosse balls. Do them before stretching if you have them.  I use them daily. It’s like giving yourself a deep-tissue massage for free. (FWIW, my favorite foam roller is this one. I talk more about mobility tools in this post.)

Want more? I’ve organized many of the MobilityWOD videos and have a list of podcasts/sites/video channels that allow you to do Yoga at Home.

Why can’t I just do the standing or seated forward fold (pike stretch) as my main stretch?

• Those are stretches that often stretch the lower back too much for a beginner.
• Also, there is usually no reason to try to make your lumbar spine (lower back) hyper-mobile. It’s almost a universal rule in movement to keep your lumbar spine and abs braced but have your hips and upper body be mobile.
• Many people who think they have a tight lower back actually have tight hips along with tight hamstrings and hip flexors/quads which all connect to the hips. (Surprise!)
• Many people who think they have a weak lower back often just have extremely weak abs. (Learn the hollow hold.)
• Increasing your lumbar mobility isn’t usually functional. When you’re doing things like weighted-barbell squats for example, YOU DON’T WANT YOUR SPINE TO MOVE! (With unloaded movements, such as pistol squats, it’s okay if your back bends, it’s supposed to.)

But I feel like my lower back is tight, how do I relax it if I shouldn’t directly stretch it?

1. Learn to chill in “child’s pose.” It’s a restorative forward bend. Breathe in it for a few minutes. It’s a relaxing and safe way to round your back and alleviate pressure because you’re not directly stretching/tugging/yanking your lower back.

2. Below is an animation I made of the Cat/Cow, an extremely therapeutic spinal mobilization that most yoga classes start with. I do it at the start of every morning. It allows me to stretch my lower back and upper back very gently.

3. I also like plow pose. You probably did this as a kid but remember, your weight should not be on your NECK, it should be all on your shoulders.  Put a blanket underneath your shoulders to let your head drop down and your neck won’t get crunched.

4. And last but not least, you could safely increase the mobility of your back with jefferson curls.

Confetti doesn’t fall from the sky, unfortunately, but it might in your head!

For 10+ years I wanted to touch my toes but never stretched enough to actually make it happen. I started doing yoga and when it finally happened, I realized that nothing was really that different. What will undoubtedly happen is that you will be happy that you could do it, and you may do a happy dance, but then you will probably set a new goal, such as putting the palms flat on the floor in front of you.. or decide you want to go for the front splits.

That’s usually how it goes, in the sense that human nature always wants more. (In the words of Bob Marley: “Now you get, what you want, now do you want more? You think it’s the end, but it’s just the beginning.”)

But anyway, the point is to just be content with where you are at now and enjoy the journey because there is no “end” to all this self-improvement. Enjoy the feeling of the stretches. Enjoy the reconnection and awareness to the depth of your breath. (Go ahead, take a deep breath right now while you’re at it.)