Stretching and regaining leg mobility question

I'm not getting any younger and where I used to get people making comments about how flexible I am for a dude, that is rapidly disappearing and becoming a problem. I've figured out some stretches for some of my flexibility/mobility issues that I need to mend, but I remain puzzled by one issue: I can't step as high as I used to. If I try to step really high I often find I'm simply incapable of doing it now. If I have a jug or a great hand jam or something I can simply reach down and lift up my foot with a free hand and place it on the foothold, however this is often not possible. 

What stretches/mobility exercises would help me get back to my younger days of being able to put my feet up high without assistance from the hands? 

Thanks for any and all assistance. Appreciate y'all. 

Cheers

Active range of motion and end range activation are the key phrases to look for. Leg raises and swings,  taekwondo or other kicking practice, deep lunges, anything that gets your hips activating near their end range of motion is good. Even better if you add compression by hanging from a bar or otherwise fixing your upper torso. Basically any movement that mimics hanging off a hold and swinging your leg up a wall.

yoga, yoga and more yoga. Find a 20-30 min sequence you like on youtube and do it 1-2 times per week, it has helped me tremendously to stay injury free and mobile. You can also go to classes obviously or find longer videos and then just repeat the sequences or stretches that you like. I find that 20 minutes is plenty though, to do regularly, and then I will do like 60-70 min occasionally when I really want to stretch everything well.

I think yoga is the best thing for climbing aside from hangboarding.  Keeps everything happy and strong in all the weird positions of climbing. 

Harry K wrote:

yoga, yoga and more yoga. Find a 20-30 min sequence you like on youtube and do it 1-2 times per week, it has helped me tremendously to stay injury free and mobile. You can also go to classes obviously or find longer videos and then just repeat the sequences or stretches that you like. I find that 20 minutes is plenty though, to do regularly, and then I will do like 60-70 min occasionally when I really want to stretch everything well.

I think yoga is the best thing for climbing aside from hangboarding.  Keeps everything happy and strong in all the weird positions of climbing. 

God damnit. Yoga? I hate yoga. 

In part it feels rather uncomfortable for me for some reason (maybe would go away if I did it more than once every two years)? and in part I have this weird masculinity thing where it's like I got a mini Hank Hill in me, y'know? If there isn't an episode where somehow Hank ends up doing yoga with Peggy then there needs to be. But I guess whatever that episode would be will be a little like my experience getting into yoga. But at the end of every episode Hank learns to accept the thing he didn't understand, so that's encouraging for the little Hank Hill inside me I guess. 

I'll give it a go. Any video recommendations that are very stretchy and not very workout-y? Is that like a type of yoga I could search for? I know nothing of the ways of the yoga. I have very much not enjoyed the very physical and workout like yoga. If anyone knows what the stretchiest of yogas are I would appreciate a little education. 

Namaste I guess 

Here's a video recommendation that focus on stretches and strength exercises for your very specific issues. Enjoy :). As the others already said, it's all about end range activation. youtu.be/f86QMiSMaZ4

I’ve taken up stretching whenever I read, which limits the positions but makes it easier to be efficient with my time! Pigeon pose (yoga pose) and butterfly may help with high stepping, doing them and other stretches everyday for an hour while a read has made me a lot more flexible without a lot of effort.

I wonder if becoming flexible and improving your ability to lift the leg/foot are actually opposite goals.  I'd be curious what an exercise scientist says.

To lift your leg, you need to be able to pull up the weight of your leg using the hip flexor. For me, this movement is limited by strength, not by flexibility, and the evidence of this is that it's easier to do when you use your hand to lift your leg.  It feels like my hand is simply helping bear the weight of the lift, not helping push through some inflexibility.  

If you do the opposite type of stretch to add range of motion to your hip flexor, like what I pasted below, are you actually making a "looser" tendon, more like a rubber band, that lacks the tensile strength to pull up your leg as effectively?  

Matthew J wrote:

I wonder if becoming flexible and improving your ability to lift the leg/foot are actually opposite goals.  I'd be curious what an exercise scientist says.

To lift your leg, you need to be able to pull up the weight of your leg using the hip flexor. For me, this movement is limited by strength, not by flexibility, and the evidence of this is that it's easier to do when you use your hand to lift your leg.  It feels like my hand is simply helping bear the weight of the lift, not helping push through some inflexibility.  

If you do the opposite type of stretch to add range of motion to your hip flexor, like what I pasted below, are you actually making a "looser" tendon, more like a rubber band, that lacks the tensile strength to pull up your leg as effectively?  

Yes, passive stretching is not the answer, which is why you need exercises that either lift the limb or activate the flexor muscles at both end range. In your photo above, if that person's rear toes were pushed into the ground and their knee were elevated, then that would be a good exercise.

Lattice offers a flexibility and mobility program that I thought was pretty good. If you didn't want to shell out for it Im sure they have some free resources on youtube

Ricky Harline wrote:

God damnit. Yoga? I hate yoga. 

In part it feels rather uncomfortable for me for some reason (maybe would go away if I did it more than once every two years)? and in part I have this weird masculinity thing where it's like I got a mini Hank Hill in me, y'know? If there isn't an episode where somehow Hank ends up doing yoga with Peggy then there needs to be. But I guess whatever that episode would be will be a little like my experience getting into yoga. But at the end of every episode Hank learns to accept the thing he didn't understand, so that's encouraging for the little Hank Hill inside me I guess. 

I'll give it a go. Any video recommendations that are very stretchy and not very workout-y? Is that like a type of yoga I could search for? I know nothing of the ways of the yoga. I have very much not enjoyed the very physical and workout like yoga. If anyone knows what the stretchiest of yogas are I would appreciate a little education. 

Namaste I guess 

Here is one of the videos I like.  This one is mostly stretching, not so much strength based.  I was just like you and Hank Hill when I started, we all have our areas of tightness and stretches that are hard but they get easier quickly with repetition.  It’s gonna help you high step much better and stronger I promise.  Ease into it and adjust positions if you need to.  

https://youtu.be/GLy2rYHwUqY?si=vB6JLwFCoVaSFnmD

https://youtu.be/b1H3xO3x_Js?si=jFQEfQEzlc2RnuLU

It’s very hard to know exactly what’s going on without seeing your body and seeing you move in person. I would recommend going to the Y (or similiar) and buying a few sessions with a good personal trainer. Explain to them the problem and ask them to recommend a routine to fix. 

A common (nearly universal) issue in men is tight hamstrings. I suspect b/c our modern life involves sooooo much sitting in chairs. It can throw off the whole kinetic chain from your knees, hips, up into your back. Many, even very active, athletic people, don’t realize just how over tight their hammies are and that it could be a big contributor to knee, hip, back issues.

Ricky Harline wrote:

God damnit. Yoga? I hate yoga. 

In part it feels rather uncomfortable for me for some reason (maybe would go away if I did it more than once every two years)? and in part I have this weird masculinity thing where it's like I got a mini Hank Hill in me, y'know? If there isn't an episode where somehow Hank ends up doing yoga with Peggy then there needs to be. But I guess whatever that episode would be will be a little like my experience getting into yoga. But at the end of every episode Hank learns to accept the thing he didn't understand, so that's encouraging for the little Hank Hill inside me I guess. 

I'll give it a go. Any video recommendations that are very stretchy and not very workout-y? Is that like a type of yoga I could search for? I know nothing of the ways of the yoga. I have very much not enjoyed the very physical and workout like yoga. If anyone knows what the stretchiest of yogas are I would appreciate a little education. 

Namaste I guess 

I don’t have specific videos, but if you’re trying to improve flexibility try looking for “yin yoga” routines. Yin is focused on holding deep stretches for a long time rather than quickly moving through a sequence of poses and is supposed to be better at improving flexibility than some of the more workout style yoga (although that stuff will also be good for your climbing). Anecdotally, doing this style of yoga 1-2 times a week seems to have helped my hip and ankle flexibility but I haven’t really done anything to measure it so I might be imagining what I want to see.

+1 for not being into yoga, is it a workout or not? I always feel like I'm just on the edge of doing something worthwhile then it ends. Do you have any lower back issues? After months of improving hip and hamstring flexibility post injury, I figured out it was actually issues with my lower back related to arthritis limiting my high step. Been working on lower back mobility which has caused a sudden improvement.

I can't think of the name of it at the moment, but there's some newish studies for stretching suggesting providing active resistance against the muscle in between stretches improves the rate of increase for flexibility (faster improvement). You Tube "stay flexy" and you'll get a bunch of great mobility work for the hips, back and hamstrings from a pretty entertaining content creator who knows his stuff. 

Ricky Harline wrote:

I'm not getting any younger and where I used to get people making comments about how flexible I am for a dude, that is rapidly disappearing and becoming a problem. I've figured out some stretches for some of my flexibility/mobility issues that I need to mend, but I remain puzzled by one issue: I can't step as high as I used to. If I try to step really high I often find I'm simply incapable of doing it now. If I have a jug or a great hand jam or something I can simply reach down and lift up my foot with a free hand and place it on the foothold, however this is often not possible. 

What stretches/mobility exercises would help me get back to my younger days of being able to put my feet up high without assistance from the hands? 

This bold section suggests your problem is less a lack of passive range (movement obtained by something other than the muscles across that joint) than strength of the hip muscles in that end range position. Passive stretching, e.g of your hamstrings, may help a little but you mainly need to do active work i.e. strengthening the hip flexors in their inner range / shortened position. This will show improvement relatively quickly. No need to do Yoga if you are not particularly psyched for it.

I have had the same problem and addressed it successfully with a combination of one passive and one active mobility exercises:

Sumo squats to maintain passive 'foot up' range: feet a metre apart, turn your feet out as far as they will go, staying upright squat down as deep as you can, hold for 3-4 seconds. 

Foot-up in a door frame. I've never seen a video for this exercise but you stand in a door frame, hold the top of the frame then work your right foot up the right side of the frame, staying upright, trying to hold the position for 3-4 seconds in the highest position you can. Repeat with left foot. 

Do sets of 4-5 of both exercises, 1-3 sets initially, daily. Progress exercises by increasing range (squatting deeper or lifting your foot higher), increasing the duration of the hold, or increasing number of sets. Will take 10 minutes in total.

Another option is on-the-wall mobility training, which is more specific to climbing positions.

Start the session by climbing with a focus on increasing high-step range of motion (without worrying about sending). Conclude the session with longer stretches on the wall.

duncan... wrote:

Foot-up in a door frame. I've never seen a video for this exercise but you stand in a door frame, hold the top of the frame then work your right foot up the right side of the frame, staying upright, trying to hold the position for 3-4 seconds in the highest position you can. Repeat with left foot.

The video that I posted earlier basically shows a variation of exactly this exercises. As well as the sumo squat. youtu.be/f86QMiSMaZ4

Bolting Karen wrote:

+1 for not being into yoga, is it a workout or not? I always feel like I'm just on the edge of doing something worthwhile then it ends. Do you have any lower back issues? After months of improving hip and hamstring flexibility post injury, I figured out it was actually issues with my lower back related to arthritis limiting my high step. Been working on lower back mobility which has caused a sudden improvement.

I can't think of the name of it at the moment, but there's some newish studies for stretching suggesting providing active resistance against the muscle in between stretches improves the rate of increase for flexibility (faster improvement). 

Time is a big factor to consider in a yoga routine, if you feel like you are on the edge of doing something worthwhile and then you dont get there you either aren't doing yoga for a long enough duration or you're passively holding poses/using poor technique (mastering technique even in the "simplest" poses can be a multi-year pursuit). As for if its a workout or not, it depends on what you do and the intensity you do it at. I climb a lot and I love calisthenics but Ive been to yoga classes that will humble me to the core haha. 

Brian M wrote:

Lattice offers a flexibility and mobility program that I thought was pretty good. If you didn't want to shell out for it Im sure they have some free resources on youtube

Anecdotally, I found lattice's mobility and flexibility program worthless. Again, in my experience, the stretches didn't really feel like they were doing much or I literally couldn't get close to the beginners/beginning positions. YMMV

The best tool I ever found was talking to a PT, nearly all climbing gyms have one. Whether it’s through the gym or just a random climber that is also a PT. Make friends with them. 

"Becoming a Supple Leopard" does wonders for me. 

https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-2nd-Performance/dp/1628600837/ref=asc_df_1628600837?mcid=7675ae8a032b356e965c2cb50c0e1a8c&hvocijid=15359313642687966797-1628600837-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15359313642687966797&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002436&hvtargid=pla-2281435177658&psc=1 

Search YouTube for Ieva Luna mobility for climbers. She's got a 25 minute video follow along routine that's pretty good. I do it once or twice a week and it's definitely helped with high stepping and wide lower body tension. 

I had to manually lift my foot to reach a high chip whilst on the wall over the weekend. I thought of Ricky and proceeded to do some hip flexor strengthening stuff and hamstrings yesterday. The hammies are worked. Ricky, thank you for the inspiration. My workout was a combination of IG reel exercises. I spent a day or two saving the reels to a folder, and did them "medley style". I did each exercise once or twice, focusing on what feels good (or good in a painful activation way). Take note of those movements and make those part of the routine. Throw everything else away. So far, I think that's a decent approach. Which ones work for me? Which ones make me feel activation? Which of these can I actually see myself returning to?

The best movement for ME is movement that I will do consistently.

If you have IG, I'm happy to bombard you if you need inspiration.

If you don't have IG, good for you :)