Daily Limber Questions

For me the daily limber unlocked yesterday. Will we get a different daily limber after the foundation as a "morning stretch"? Or will we do the same stretches every day? Should we only stretch for such a short period of time as shown in the video or should we add the time in stretch as we get better?

The stretches feel great and i will try to implement them daily!

Thank you

Jochen

The same basic general limber is fine.  

You will find that you naturally adjust the contents of the daily limber to suit your own physiology as you progress through Foundation and learn more mobility.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

as i feel better and better by stretching i purchased the whole stretch pack - hope it helps reverse some previous injuries like torn lateral ligaments and torn harmstrings from my days as a soccer player.

Are the times in a stretch as short as shown in the video or should we pause the video and stretch longer @Coach Sommer?

For the stretch courses the durations are clearly stated - I would not say they are brief:  they are typically 60, 90 or 120 seconds. But if you find them short, hats off to you! If you refer to the daily limber video, I imagine the answer to be the usual one: start holding as shown for a couple of times. If you feel comfortable and would like to increase some holds do so but without overdoing it, and when in doubt err on the safe side.

All the other courses have much stricter programming, but In the end, no matter how well thought a program is, you will still have to do some personal tweaking, experimenting and adapting: everyone is different, has a different background, reacts differently, etc.

Yes, I was asking about the Daily Limber - thank you @Guido Franchetti

I'm done with Fundamentals but do not see where the Daily Limber "unlocked". Can anybody point me in the right direction? Or is it just the review on Day 23? Thanks.

It is day 21, and you should now have the possibility to select daily limber it in the workout scheduler.

8 hours ago, Guido Franchetti said:

It is day 21, and you should now have the possibility to select daily limber it in the workout scheduler.

That would make sense as Day 21 is named, "Daily Limber". Where's the workout scheduler?

First go to https://my.gymnasticbodies.com

Then it depends wether you are using basic view or advanced view. In basic view you will see, just below the black tab bar at the top, some other tabs named weekly, daily, log, food, setup (yours might be slightly different depending on the courses you own). Click on setup, and then on select workout days. You'll see you'll have daily limber available.

In advanced view the tabs have different names: dashboard, history, workout scheduler,... You can click on workout scheduler and then modify your program for specific days by clicking on the gear icon, or select a weekly template (some options may not be available if you have already done some of the week workouts). Again, you will have fundamentals->daily limber available among any other courses you own.

As you progress through Fundamentals and onto Foundation, you will (or should) add or substitute particular range-of-motion integrated mobility movements to this limber (particular being determined by you). My rule of thumb is that if I find the im still gives me a stretch after a cycle/four weeks of it (I'm fairly flexible) it probably needs to go in somewhere

I think this is quite intuitive though, if you are mindful in your training

Just did my first day of daily limber. Read through this string but still have questions. First of all, out of just about anything I have done so far in the Fundamentals, I find several for the stretches to be the most "hopeless" for me, namely the stretches involving the straddle and bending the upper body like a hinge. I have practically 0 mobility, 50+ years of tightness. What can I do to improve. Keep doing limber each day and pushing myself gently? Second question was similar to one I ahve read but not sure I understood the answer. Do we mimic the time shown in the video? Should I "limber" each day along with the other exercises? Is it ok for me to go into Foundations if there are areas I really need to work on, or should I cycle through Fundamentals again. I have to say I do feel better. Thank you.

Hi Alan,

It might feel hopeless now, but consistency works magic

Keep performing the daily limber. You can do it each workout day or literally 'daily.' As it's a part of your warmup, while its fine to go to the edge of your current ROM, save really pushing it for after-workout streching

Having finished Fundamentals, it's now time for you to move up to Foundations work and really kick it into gear. Mobility, joint preparation and basic strength are the priorities here, and as I've posted a fair bit recently, I am a big proponent of the weighted mobility elements to gradually but rapidly increase flexibility and strength.

Your initial warmup for Foundation work may be a 15-30minute block of Fundamentals work, including daily limber (which will change slightly as you progress and find useful exercises) and basic movements such as tables and the locomotion movements. Over time these will improve dramatically.

Mobility work is very like lubricating and oiling joints that may be currently a bit stiff. Done right and regularly, not only will the movement become smooth but there will be less wear or grinding in that movement. The body thrives, and stops panicking when asked to move in an unaccustomed direction.

Certainly I've gotten away with any number of turned ankles, grappling locks and throws, and random falls without the injuries, shin splints , soreness or tweaks that the guys around me tend to pick up. Just a personal perspective on the other side of GST mobility; its not all about splits and bridges, you can't get strong if you are always injured

Alan, doing the limber each day on top of your scheduled exercises is a great plan. Once fundamentals is complete, you're good to progress to F1 and GB Pro+. In addition, spending extra time or doing extra sets of the stretches that you have the largest deficit in should help a bunch, but be careful on how far and when you push your stretching hard. Save harder stretching for the end of workouts when your really warm and focus more on consistency.

Hi, could you please give me some more advice on the seal position, so I make sure I don't hurt my lower back, which I believe is fragile? Thanks!

Yes:

-begin in a relaxed position prone on the floor;

-put the hands under the shoulders

-retract and depress the scapulas as much as you can

-while holding he previous suggestions try to push yourself up using the pecs muscles.

Thank you. 

Hey everybody,

I'd like some clarification on the frequency part: the Stretch courses are supposed to be done once per week, no more, but the daily limber is supposed to be done daily. Why are the recommendations so far apart? After all, both do qualitatively the same (stretching), right? What am I missing?

Thanks!

Stretch series is very hard on connective tissue, so basically one week it is what you need to recover. daily limber should comprise 1-2 exercise of the stretch series where you feel very big limitations. no more.

Hi Christian,

Because a hard stretch on an assigned stretch day and a full body limber on workout days are two completely different animals performed for completely different purposes.

The limber's job is to prepare the body for the day's conditioning.

The hard stretch's job is to increase the body's end range of motion.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Hello, all.  Just reading over this thread and I understand the different objectives of limber vs. stretch. However, I'm still a bit confused as to what comprises "limber"/and "stretch" in a scope outside of the programs.  Is it time..added resistance.. ROM, etc? The reason I ask is because I am active outside of training, I move quickly on my feet 8-9 hours a day at work and play soccer and MMA outside of the gym.  There are times when muscles are tight and they feel the need to loosen up, and there are other times in sport when an explosive maneuver at full stretch is required.  After many muscle/tendon/ligament tears & pulls I'm very apprehensive after hearing the warning about 'stretching' no more than once per week as per the stretch series protocol.  Injury prevention is my top priority (currently working out of a hamstring strain which occurred mid soccer match after the first week of stretch series)  

Saying 'stretch' once per week is referring to performing specifically the Stretch series no more than once each per week. Certainly a limber (not the back walkover from bridge, I mean this as in 'to limber up  ) should be pperformed as part of warmup for training. This will not be performed as intensely as in Stretch; for eg. I use some elements from the bridge series in my daily warmups, but will either not hold them as long or not push them as hard in this context. Usually I will work in initially fairly conservative and gradually increasing end ROM for a given stretch  until the movement feels right

Thanks @Jon Douglas that's actually quite helpful.  So, when necessary, it would be ok to do some stretching throughout the week... just not the full tilt stretch series.  (they're currently stretching out my Hammy 2-3x per week at physical therapy)

54 minutes ago, Jason De Knegt said:

Thanks @Jon Douglas that's actually quite helpful.  So, when necessary, it would be ok to do some stretching throughout the week... just not the full tilt stretch series.  (they're currently stretching out my Hammy 2-3x per week at physical therapy)

  

Certainly  okay and recommended. Just not to the point that it requires actual recovery before repeating, as the series do.

Should the Daily Limber be coupled with either blocks 1,2,3 and 4? I'm really focused in on fundamentals until I see more improvement from my deficits. So it stands to be a bit of a workout for me now. My thoughts on program design (for my personal use).

Day 1

Calf Raise Straight X 20

Jump Rope 180 Skips

Calf Raise Toes Out X 20

JR 180 Skips

Calf Raise Toes In X 20

JR 180 Skips

Daily Limber

Blocks 1 + 2

Day 2

Blocks 2 + 3

Day 3

Blocks 3 + 4

Day 4

Blocks 4 + 1

Day 5 

Daily Limber

Feedback Please ?

You will be best off progressing to Foundation One and Stretch now that Fundamentals is complete.