Touching your toes is a way of gauging flexibility. It’s not an overall health test. However, flexibility is crucial as we age.
As people age, tendons can become stiffer as their water content decreases. People also lose muscle tone, bone density and skin. All of that leads to less flexibility and chronic aches. Increasing flexibility is possible and aids your range of motion and stability.
You don’t have to worry if you can’t touch your toes. It’s a stretch you can achieve with a simple two-minute daily routine. Being unable to touch your toes is a sign of tight hamstrings. Hamstrings are a collection of three muscles in your lower leg that help your leg bend and straighten.
“Touching your toes is a position everyone should just have,” said mobility coach Roger Frampton. “You should be able to fold your body in half the same way you should be able to sit in a deep squat position. I wouldn’t say that if you can’t touch your toes it’s bad, you’ve probably just become tight in that area—or strong in that area.”
He explained that tight hamstrings aren’t always a sign of inactivity. Runners, for instance, can have tight hamstrings and have difficulty touching their toes. “You might be really good at running. Your hamstrings have become tight for a purpose: to make you more springy when you run.”
But, while the springiness might be great for running, the tightness can cause pain in everything connected to the hamstrings. It goes from muscles, to joints and all the way up your back to your bones.
To stretch your hamstring and gain the ability to touch your toes, you must first learn your baseline. While keeping your feet together and your legs stretched, bend over and measure how far you can touch. Put a mark on your pants where you can reach. Then, first thing every morning, practice bending from the hip, not the back. Mr. Frampton suggests holding a broomstick handle to your back and bending forward without letting the handle lose contact with your head or the base of your spine. Do this for 30 seconds.
“Folding is half hamstrings, half spine. You are stretching your hamstrings, but because you’re folding, you’re doing most of the moving through your spine,” he said. Keeping a straight back forces your hamstrings to stretch as you move.
After that, you sit on the floor. If getting up and down off the floor is difficult, we recommend sitting on your bed. With your legs straight, push your knees down with your hands and try to lift your heel. Place a book under your knee if you cannot lift your heel. Reach down your body as far as possible and hold the position for 30 seconds. Do this three times. Once completed, stand and attempt to touch your toes, see how close you get and measure your new distance.
This method adds up over time, stretching your hamstrings to become looser and help you touch your toes.
