60yo retired firefighter. Many flexibility issues over the years. Great video, thanks. I like the breaking down of separate areas of potential limited movement to aid individual training needs analysis. I've been surprised to find that I have more lower back and hip flexor movement than expected. I've added this set to my daily exercise and will report back on progress after the month.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for your feedback I'm glad my approach worked for you! I hope the exercises help

I'm always impressed how Will prioritises the point of working within your own limitations and gradually increase as your confidence and flexibility improves. And if in doubt, don't- ! 😊

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Absolutely - everyone is different and it's important to find what works for you!

I can touch my toes. I just want to keep this ability. Thanks for the video.❤

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Keep up the great work!

I think my problem is tight hamstrings. But at age 71 I feel very fortunate to not have any pain anywhere. I walk 90 minutes each day and every other day I do resistant training and weight lifting. I'm also fortunate to never have fallen. I have lost my balance but so far I have been very good at recovering it. My goal now is working on improving my muscle mass. After 3 years keto I am now mostly carnivore and have concentrated on consuming lots of protein. I enjoy watching the vids & I have subscribed.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Keep up the great work it sounds like you're doing a great job!

Thank you for setting realistic expectations!

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Always!

Great easy to follow video, thanks so grateful!!

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Happy to help!

Great explanation, thanks so much, I'm going to try it now!!! Appreciate your time and input.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best!

Thank you so much for all the useful videos 🙏

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

You're more than welcome

This is really awesome, Thank you so much!!!!!

Thank you this is just what I need 😊

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

You're welcome!

I have had a painful groin for about a month. So finding it hard to do this but I can't wait to try once the groin pain is gone. Thanks for all you do to help us🙏

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best in your recovery!

I love this one

I had hip replacement surgery a month ago and I am going to be excited to work with these exercises as soon as my hip precautions are lifted. Thank you for the great info

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best in your recovery!

🍃🌼 Will Harlow, I enjoy your presentation. Your instructions are clear, easy to comprehend, and motivating. From Queensland Australia... 🍃"Thank You"🍃

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for your kind comment!

@user-ds3zu3yx1n

5 ай бұрын

🍃🌤 All Good, Keep up the excellent work 😊 🍃💛🍃

Hi Will ,I follow your videos and able to regain my strength in legs.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

That's great to hear!

Thank you very much for your videos, very useful. Could you show exercises for spinal stenosis. Thank you in advance.

Much appreciated! Thanks for decomposing in 4 steps. Let us see if after some decades I will finally manage 💪

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best!

Will like all your Videos are very clear and hElpful. Got your book!

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for your support!

Another reason for not being able to touch one’s toes is due to ‘fat’ stomach or large breasts! In which case sitting on the floor with your legs apart, not necessarily full box splits, but just wide enough, can help with being able to get your hands towards the floor and increase flexibility.

@user-ov4wr5yu4r

5 ай бұрын

Or advanced pregnancy. 😊

@sh8736

5 ай бұрын

@@user-ov4wr5yu4r indeed, even in early pregnancy it’s hard to bend over, but I don’t think there will be too many ladies in that condition in Will’s over 50’s target group 😃

@Elizabethan-cl4qh

4 ай бұрын

If you're over 50 and heavily pregnant - good luck!

Good morning, Will. I think this was like strike 3 out of the 4. Big, fat bummer, man! Lower back, problem that I work on daily. Hamstrings, I don't know what the deal is there. Hips, I try and try to stretch them... Anyway, I love your explanation of the stretches. Very simple and concise, easy to follow. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Excellent video! I do have a request: Could you - at some point during each of the exercise demos - put the full # of reps & #of seconds? This kind of summary would provide a visual nutshell (to us more visual learners who don’t absorb the verbal content quite so well). Thanks for considering my suggestion.😊

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Hi there - thank you for your comment! I'll definitely take your suggestion onboard when planning my future videos!

Many men have been unable to touch their toes since their teens. During growth spurts, the long bones can grow very quickly and pull the muscles (especially the hamstrings) tight. If you arent doing flexibility work during this time of your life, you can end up with tight, 'short' hamstrings forever.

@JA-gx4hb

Ай бұрын

I could never touch my toes, and at 5'5" I never had much of a growth spurt. I was active in sports, and I stretched like crazy. Same for my 5 foot sister, who desperately wanted to be a cheerleader. My other sister, unathletic and a bit fat, could put her palms flat on the ground.

Ah well, I'm a walking mess of arthritis but this is one thing I can still do. Over the years as squatting and getting down on the floor have got harder and harder I've continued to bend over to pick up small things (nothing heavy, no) so I've never lost that particular flexibility. Classic case of keep doing it or lose it I suspect. I'm following several of your other videos to work on my worst problem areas though and finding them very useful. Thank you for making them so approachable.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

I'm sorry to hear you've been struggling but I pleased my videos have been helping in other areas!

Hello Will ,I love your exercises for streching and find them very useful. Could you suggest some exercises to help me to kneel on my calves with the buttocks nestled between the legs on the floor. I could this few years back but unable to do them these days. I would be grateful if you help me get to this mobility. This is called the thunderbolt pose or vajraasana in Yoga.Thanks a ton in advance.

My Hammies thank you.

Would be nice to see some reports on how people have done since they started.

Jeepers, I've NEVER been able to touch my toes! I'll try this Will 😊

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best!

Hello Will, I'm 60 yo female from Australia. I don't know why, but I have always been able to touch my toes with ease, and if I do it a few times, I can get my fingers on the floor. I don't know why this is because I'm a little over weight, not particularly mobile and have mild back pain in different areas. Something I'm 'blessed' with perhaps?! If nothing else, it's a good way to win a bet with friends around my age! Your information is always clear and easy to understand, so thanks.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

That's great! A good sign of flexibility and a good party trick!

It's also very important for the chin to stay high throughout the movement so that the lumbar spine is not flexed to the degree it causes low back pain.

@cassieoz1702

5 ай бұрын

Why? What is the cause of the 'low back pain' you mention?

I have never been able to touch my feet. My lower back has always been quite stiff, but I have no trouble reaching the floor in the first exercise. I was operated for a herniated disc in the lower back at 30.

I accept the challenge! Four weeks it is. This 75 year old body is going to do it. 😅

Fifth thing: HIGH SHOULDERS. You really need to sleep on your chin/ribcage with the hands in a W pattern or up/forward (crucially) so that the shoulders can naturally move up and forward.

I have never been flexible, even when young and athletic. I’m still going to try this. ☺️

@CCB249

5 ай бұрын

Flexibility takes practice as you get older no matter who you are. Some people have kept up their practice their entire lives, others have not.

I love all your exercises and I do them every day They have increased my flexibility I got your book also which is very useful

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

That's fantastic to hear! I'm so glad they have helped - and thank you for your support!

I cannot bridge anymore. Any easy exercises to help?

I had tkr b/l 2 yrs. back. can I do these exercises.

I'm fortunate in that I've always been able to place my hands flat on the floor in front of my feet, with my legs straight, ever since I was a kid. I'm now in my late sixties and can still do it easily. I remember being puzzled in high school when classmates couldn't touch their toes in gym class. Maybe I'm just more flexible than average. No doctor has ever commented on it, so I don't know.

@reneeelizabeth302

5 ай бұрын

I know people who can do that too. I think a lot of it is genetics.

@12thDecember

5 ай бұрын

@@reneeelizabeth302 I agree.

Hi, Will, from Vancouver island, Canada! Your videos have been very helpful, clear and concise. I am looking through to see if you have any to help me regain the ability to carry a backpack for long distance hiking/camping--Canterbury to Rome and other treks. I have chronic back problems/pain, so using your exercises to help strengthen, reduce pain, etc. Do you have some exercise suggestions I could do so I can lift a 25-30 pound pack onto my back safely and carry it? Also looking at possibly using a trolley cart attached to waist belt if I can't carry pack.

@frankfaubert1927

5 ай бұрын

Hi Wendy, I'm on Van-Isle as well and do trail walking with a backpack. I'm almost into my 70's and what I find works is sitting (log, stump, car seat, tailgate, etc ) with my backpack behind me. I do arms first and then the waist strap and finally, the sternum strap. I lean forward and straighten my legs and back at the same time to a standing position. I'm not a lightweight camper so my pack is a little closer to 40-50 lbs but this way seems to work.

@wendyanderson7625

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!! I will try it that way

I've been stretching my hamstrings almost every day for a year now, and I'm still nowhere closer to touching my toes. And I really make sure to feel the stretch in the hamstrings. A lot of channels claim that the problem isn't fixed by stretching, but by strengthening the glutes. What's your take on this?

Do you have any suggestions for stretching the quads that are safe for people with balance issues. Thanks, Ken

@user-ov4wr5yu4r

5 ай бұрын

I do, but can I describe it? Place thick towel or similar soft squishy cloth on the floor. Kneel on it with a bent knee. Place your other foot on the floor in front, both knees are bent 90 degrees. Ok, next "rock" your pelvis, by pushing your pubic bone up and forward, tucking your buttocks under. Glutes should engage. Refer to videos on fixing anterior pelvic tilt if it's not working. Lastly, with your pelvis nicely rocked, move the pelvis slowly straight forward, causing the front knee to bend more. Breathe in and out slowly 3 times. Slowly reverse, and switch legs. I hope that helps. You can also try it standing in a lunge with the back leg straight, but hold onto something sturdy. 😊

If one has Bursitis,can they do the 4 exercises that allow one to bend and reaches the toes

Touching my toes hasn’t ever been a problem. Putting my elbows to the floor was easy about thirty years ago. I can still come fairly close.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Keep up the great work!

The stiffness in my left hip POST total hip replacement is the only thing touching my toes (or specifically putting on my left sock). So anno

As you talked about the 4 reasons why people can't touch the floo😢r, it became a university type test. Flexible back- fail; Flexible hips- fail, Flexible hamstrings- fail; Flexible sciatic-fail. Total score: 0😢. I even failed the bonus question- Flexible leg tendons- yup failed again. Willingness to slowly( at my pace) improve makes up for the zeroes. Thanks for your videos .

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Going at your own pace is the most important thing - slow and steady is always better than nothing!

Is it possible to do the "flossing" exercise while standing straight up against a wall?

I am the 12%.

I'm 50. Can I still do it ?

Im 78. I can still touch my toes but my late husband called me spider arms! I still want to do the exercises for hip pain. Thanks❤

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Keep up the great work!

I can’t bend my left leg to reach my toes to clip my toenails. I have to stretch out my arms over a stretched out left leg, but that’s hard to do. I have left hip arthritis. My right leg/hip are fine. I will try these exercises. Hope they help. Thank you.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best!

great ideas. Here is my problem. when a person is very-very fat, the belly pulls forward and causes abnormal back arch and so flexibility is horrible forward. also when bending forward the large belly/abdomen is in the way. Same for flexing knee, I cannot bring it to my chest because belly is in the way. How then do I work on flexing and increasing both forward back and upward knees?( i am able to lay on floor and put leg up wall for hamstring stretch...This is the only move I can do.) any ideas how to do the others?

Hi Will, thanks for your very helpful videos! Fyi, KZread unsubscribes me from your channel almost daily, so I have to re-subscribe. I don't know why this happens.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

That's very strange! I'm not sure why that happens - I'm glad you're still here though!

Great I will try and get back to you with a video. I can go just 6 inches above my ankle. I will share a video before and after the streaches. I am 68 years old.

@HT-Physio

5 ай бұрын

Wishing you all the best!

I already have pins needles numbness and cant touch toes 😮

❤

The first exercise of standing and touching the feet is difficult for old people like me. The rest are ok

I shouldn’t even try this since I have had low back herniated disc

Hey Will, tried reaching you but didn’t find any luck. I have a l5 s1 disc bulge/herniation(sciatica). the symptoms have gotten way better. but when i go to the toilet to urinate or poop i feel a little bit of pain/ tingly sensation in my toe. it that normal?

Do it in 4 minutes after a run. 😁

"one of four thing stopping you" then skips.

So handsome 😍 I'll touch everything in 4 days💪

Very hot therapist

Because I'm hypermobile, even at 70, I can still touch my toes and the floor with my clenched fists quite easily. Because of this, I tend to see it as normal and wonder why others can't still do it. Hmm.

Even as a child I was not able to touch my toes with my legs straight.

Did you took the mark of the beast?

Such an attractive guy! Love your videos - always very well articulated.

I can touch my toe without problem from any position but have a pain in streaching up and keep upward when I am walking.