Foxen vs Flexibility round 6 – Back to back(bending)

It has been a hot minute since I last wrote a flexibility related blog back in May 2021, and to be quite honest since then there have been a fair few hefty developments on the old flexibility quest. My front splits disappeared (because I was fucking dumb enough to stop going to splits class after achieving them) and then magically re-appeared last week after committing to weekly classes again – shocking I know. My middle splits have by some miracle maintained the same status, however since my last flexibility update eight months ago, I can confirm that my poor old back and shoulders are still decrepit.

I’m a grown girl and can admit this is all entirely my fault. I had been keeping to my current training schedule, which consisted of swearing blindly to myself that I would attend Anna Frost’s  online back and shoulder flexibility class every Sunday at 5pm, forgetting to attend, promising I’ll attend next week and thus repeating the same cycle for weeks on end. Surprisingly, this training plan got me absolutely nowhere.

In fact, I tell a lie, it hadn’t got me nowhere, it sent me backwards. My upper back and shoulders at present resemble that of a 200 year old Galapagos island tortoise. In fact as I type this I am in some sort of pain and have been for weeks. Due to daily games of tug of war with my 25kg dog, using a shitty dining room chair instead of a proper office chair when working and neglecting to give my upper back and shoulders any sort of basic care and maintenance, I can now solidly confirm that they’re both totally fucked.  They’re about as tense as Boris Johnson when questioned about a work event, there’s this weird, light tingling going on right at the top, at least two hefty knots and this sharp burning sensation on the upper left hand side near my spine.

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Typing this out has made me realise that my upper back and shoulders needed some serious attention immediately if not sooner. One of my best mates is a cracking Sports Massage Therapist , but I’m a bit bloody terrified of not only what she will do to my poor old upper back and shoulders when she gets her hands on them, but also what she will say when she sees the state they’re in. However, there was no putting this off any longer, I had to fix the stiff old bastards pronto. So, after almost a year off caring for my back and shoulders, I do declare that I attended Anna’s Bendy Backs and Stretchy Shoulders class last Sunday!

Holy shit that class was a wakeup call. As you can see from the photo above, my bridge has MASSIVELY regressed –  but right now that it the least of my worries. Muscles I forgot existed suddenly sprung into action, much huffing and puffing was done (thank fuck I was on mute!) and I did not feel like a loosey goosey. In fact, I felt more like a goosey that had been dead for a week and rigor mortis had set in, but hey, we’ve all got to (re-) start somewhere! Also, despite my aches, pains and general complains, I do thoroughly enjoy Anna’s classes and they ultimately do my body the power of good, so please don’t let my whining put you off attending.

So, here goes approximately round six of my mission to sort out my upper back and shoulders once and for all. 2022 is going to be the year I work on my mental stresses and tensions too, and apparently working on your upper back and shoulder flexibility can additionally help alleviate mental stress too? Christ knows how as all it does is cause me pain, so take that with a pinch of salt, but that’s something I’ve heard can happen.

Are you working on your back and shoulder flexibility too and if so do you love it or are you joining me on the struggle bus? Let me know in the comments!

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