There’s a new Instagram trend in the fitness world → crazy feats of flexibility and movement

I think this awesome! Inspiring others to become more flexible is going to help a lot of people. As with every instagram fad, though, you should probably do your homework on what those flexible influencers are doing and how they got there before you watch and say “I’m gonna try that!”

Remember Parkour? How about the Office episode with Parkour? It opens with the office guys trying to do Parkour in the alley by jumping off the building and dumpsters. Even if you haven’t seen it I’m sure you can imagine how well it goes….

Unfortunately, it’s not just characters from The Office who think they can perform wild athletic feats without any training. I still remember when I saw someone on Instagram doing a handstand on top of a 30 inch box. Immediately my brain went “I can do that, go for it!” Because I wasn’t even being able to do a handstand ON THE FLOOR at the time I quickly tumbled onto my head from two and half feet in the air…..

So back to the flexibility hashtags. Just like learning to do a handstand or jump from buildings these athlete’s trained for what they are showing off. They took their time putting in hard work to achieve these amazing feats. Each of them did a lot of simple exercises and stretches with real dedication to get there. It took time.

I definitely encourage you to watch these for inspiration. Use the motivation not to try what they are doing now, but to put in the grinding work to get there. Getting closer to these athletes’ mobility will make your joints healthier and just help your feel better overall.

Want to set up a plan focus on increasing your mobility and building joint health? Contact a coach