Who's more flexible, men or women? Hey, my name is Lucas. I'm a yoga teacher and when people come
to my yoga class, very often the men are convinced that because they're men, they're stuck in a stiff
body, and women who are stiff often make a joke that they're as stiff as an old man. If you can
relate, if you're struggling with flexibility, if you've tried some stretches and they haven't
worked, this video is for you. We'll talk about number one: the myth versus reality around male
versus female flexibility. Number two: why it probably doesn't matter for most people. And
then number three: we'll look at what actually works from the research and from practice for
actually increasing your range of motion. OK, men versus women, how does this work? Let's talk about
a real life example. Hypothetical, let's imagine that we have this room and we filled it with a
hundred people. We have 50 men over here, 50 women over here. Here's what we would learn - the men,
on average, are going to have much higher levels of testosterone and growth hormone than the women,
for example. When it comes to T levels the men might have T levels of 300 to 1,000 nanograms per
deciliter, compared to the female group which might have 15 to 75 nanograms per deciliter.
So a huge difference. And you'll find very similar differences in terms of growth hormone.
Well, both testosterone and growth hormone are anabolic, that means they're pro-muscle they help
you to build and maintain muscle, they also help to increase resting tension in muscles. Here's
what this means, and this is what you already suspected, which is true, on average in this
room of 100 people, the men are going to have more muscle. Probably true. And on average, the men, if
we were going to go poke their biceps for example, just their resting tension is going to be a little
bit harder than the women on average. The question to ask is, is it always true that strength and
flexibility have an inverse correlation? This is often true but it doesn't have to be true, meaning
if I'm flexible, does that mean I'm weak? Or if I'm strong, does it mean I'm stiff? And the answer
is unequivocally no. There are huge football linebackers, like 300 lbs guys, who can do the
full splits. And on the other end of the spectrum there are teeny, teeny, tiny, like 115 lbs ballet
dancers who can move around impressive amounts of weight in the gym. Now, those are anomalies, but
it can really be available to anybody. It really comes down to training time, meaning this inverse
correlation, strength and flexibility doesn't have to be, but it does require training. What does any
of this have to do with you or me? What is that 300 lbs linebacker or that 115 lbs dancer, how do
they relate to you or me? They really don't. You and I, we're not professional athletes, we're not
trying to win awards, or be explosive, or be on the podium, or be contortionists. What you and I
are looking for is what I call lifestyle fitness. We're trying to live our best life for as long as
possible, move around like a younger version of ourselves, pick our kids or our grandkids up off
the ground, and enjoy pain-free knees, and hips, and a lower back. We're looking for what I call
basic range of motion. I call it BROM, basic range of motion. This means that you can fold forward
and put your hands on the floor, it means you can get up and down from the floor without using your
hands without assistance, it means that you can interlace your hands behind your back pain-free,
and you can sit cross-legged on the floor for 30 minutes or even an hour comfortably. This is basic
range and whether you're young or old, whether you're male or female, whether you're starting
from zero or you have a decent amount of mobility, everyone can progressively increase their range
of motion if you understand how it works. So, how does flexibility work? When you look at the
science literature, the different case studies and research, and then you look anecdotally at
what very mobile people do, like gymnasts, and dancers, and yoga students, conclusively you find
there's not a whole lot of mystery in terms of how we increase range of motion. There are three
principles you need to understand for increasing range of motion. I'll share them with you now.
The first principle is called wet noodle and this is just a funny term that I came up with to help
us remember that for best results when you're training for flexibility, when your body is like
a wet noodle, so as relaxed as possible, that's going to create the most adaptive change. So,
if you're looking to to lengthen your myofascial units, muscles and fascia will stretch best when
fully relaxed. Wet noodle - muscles and fascia will stretch best when fully relaxed. We'll talk
about this more. Number two is a technique called breathe to relax. Remember before we talked about
those men who have a higher resting muscle tension? The truth is, whether you're a man
or a woman, whoever it is, a lot of people who are stiff have a high resting muscle tension. In order
to alleviate that resting muscle tension, also in order to turn off your stretch reflex, that's
where your body fights you in a pose, there's a breathing technique that's very helpful. I'll
show it to you now, we'll practice in a minute as well. But you inhale through your nose for four.
Then you exhale through your mouth with a "ha" sound for eight.
This breathing technique, when combined with long-hold passive poses, makes a world of
difference. Just like a powerlifter who's doing a deadlift will have a very specific way to brace
his or her core with breathing, there are very specific ways you want to breathe to amplify
your impact when you're stretching, and breathe to relax for eight, nose to mouth breathing makes a
huge difference. The third principle you need to understand is called time under passive tension.
What this rule states is that we really need at least two minutes in a pose to create adaptive
change. Whenever I say this people freak out and they say: "But I heard 20 seconds, my PE teacher
told me 30 seconds, everything after that's a waste of time." What I always say is: "OK,
did that work for you?" and the answer is always no. I always say: "Was your PE teacher flexible?"
and the answer is no. So, again, just because these ideas are in the zeitgeist, it doesn't mean
that they're actually true. This three principle effect, I call the Science of Stretching,
and you can apply it to not every pose, but most poses to open up your hips, and your hamstrings,
your shoulders, and your spine, very, very pragmatically. I don't want to say fast, because
flexibility changes aren't fast, but they're progressive enough that you'll get very excited,
meaning within 30 days, within 90 days, and then within 365 days, you'll see very, very significant
changes that will increase the quality of your life, your range of movement, and you can get
back to that BROM, basic range of motion. Before we wrap today, I'd like to show you just one pose,
which is a supported forward fold, applying these three techniques. Let me change my setup and then
we'll practice the pose. Let me show you how to apply these three Science of Stretching
principles to a very simple forward fold. I'm using a stool here to support my upper body,
to not put so much pressure on my lower back. This is not necessary, but if you're new to stretching,
if you struggle with forward folds, it's a very, very helpful modification. As I mentioned,
principle number three is time under passive tension. We use two minutes as our minimum. So,
I'll start my timer, step my feet a little bit wider than my hips, I've got a stool in front of
me, soften your knees, hinge forward at your hips. Notice how I use my stool to support my upper body
and I can throttle the intensity on the backs of my legs. From here I apply my three principles.
Principle number one is wet noodle, so I'm attempting to relax my body as much as I can. Now,
that's easier said than done, but as much as you can, let everything melt down towards the floor.
Principle number two, as we reviewed before, is nose to mouth,
four to eight breathing. So, I'll inhale through my nose for four.
Exhale through my mouth for eight.
I'll carry on with that breathing throughout the pose and remember principle number three, really
important, I've got my timer going down here, we're using a two-minute hold, which is a really
great starting point for everyone. And if, as you're in the pose, you feel like there's a little
more space, you might drop down a little bit lower with your stool. Figure out what works for you.
In terms of intensity, we're looking at seven out of ten intensity, which means you can probably
hear in my voice there's a little bit of strain, but I can still talk more or less normally. If
I went to eight or nine out of ten, my voice would be audibly strained. Inhale for four.
Exhale for eight.
Good. Bend your knees, release, and make your way back up to stand. Hope you found that video
helpful. To download a quick worksheet that reviews those three principles, the Science
of Stretching, you can find a link down below. If you'd like more science-based yoga videos,
please subscribe. Any questions, drop them in the comments. You can always find my teaching
calendar at yogabody.com. Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you in the next video.