Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stretch

These boots aren't made for walking...yet

B-squared — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:07:40 -0800

I just bought a pair of amazing leather boots. They were the last pair. I'm not returning them. However, they're knee-high and the left one is a little too tight on my calf. I can still wear them, but I'm looking for advice as to how to stretch them, just a little, to make them more comfortable in the short term. I imagine that they'll naturally stretch a bit over time, but I'm hoping for a quicker fix. Anyone?

I'm doing it wrong?

doift — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:56:13 -0800

I think using an elliptical machine is causing tightness on the outsides of my ankles. What stretches should I do and what should I watch out for in my form while exercising? Mid-20s, female, reasonably healthy.

I stretch after working out and usually do a standing quad stretch, a butterfly stretch, and a stretch that I don't know a name for (sitting and touching the toes of one leg at a time, stretching the calf and the back of the knee.) I also do yoga and pilates occasionally, so I get some more thorough stretching in at those times. I almost certainly need a better stretching regimen, and especially want to include something that will help the tightness in my ankles, particularly the outsides. I also get some tightness in the arches of my feet occasionally. There's not a lot of extra space for stretching at my gym; that doesn't help.

I wonder if my form is creating this problem. I try to keep my toes and knees pointed forward, trying not to roll the feet too far in our out, and not keeping all my weight exclusively on the balls or heels of my feet. What might I be doing unconsciously that could be straining the outsides of my ankles? Another possibility is that I'm just too short (5'0") for the machines?

I buy whatever running shoes are on sale and feel comfortable and supportive. There is a local running store that does the whole "videotape you running on a treadmill and recommend shoes based on your stride" thing, but since I'm not actually running, would their analysis be relevant (and worth some extra cost)?

My goals are weight loss and overall fitness, I'm not anyone's definition of an athlete. I'm trying to diversify my workouts, but I like the elliptical and it's convenient to pop over to the gym for 45 minutes and not have to think about it, so it's become my default semi-daily workout and I want to make sure I'm doing it properly.

Once I "pop," I can't stop

np312 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:32:06 -0800

"Pop!" goes... my entire body? I've looked at the other "back/neck cracking" threads here, but mine seems a bit different. I'm a young female who works out and stretches 3x a week, yet I'm constantly "popping" or "cracking" my joints without meaning to. Especially when I'm lying down, but not limited to that.

We're talking ankles, knees, elbows, back, hips and pelvis all the time, shoulders, fingers, toes, you name it. Not even just when stretching. When I take a deep breath, my back pops. Shrug one shoulder-- Pop! When I tie my shoelaces-- hoo boy it's a staccato symphony. Friends have commented on it, saying how weird it is. I can also pop every joint in my fingers three or four different ways... Though I try not to do it often. That urban myth (?) about arthritis has me spooked.

None of the popping comes with pain of any sort. But it's a little embarrassing, and I'm wondering what I can do about it, and why it's happening. I stretch, I'm active, I'm young. I do have some slight scoliosis and am a tad duck-footed, but otherwise there's nothing wrong with me.

Any thoughts? Also, any truth to the popping --> arthritis myth?

I must be the only person wanting to get rid of XP and use vista.

gergtreble — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:41:51 -0800

I started with XP. Installed vista. Then I could choose between XP and Vista. I'm not using XP any more. Can I just delete the XP partition? Picture the scene. I built a HTPC and put XP media center on it. I didn't like it. So I bought vista, and amazingly it works brilliantly! When I installed vista it placed me in a dual boot scenario. I'm not using XP any more and my vista partition is running out of space. So I want to get rid of the XP partition and then expand my vista partition into the free space.

If I delete the XP partition from within Vista will I bork the boot process?

What would be the best way to get rid of the XP partition and still have a working system?

Thanks in advance.

Why did stretching make me so horny?

Cat Pie Hurts — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:42:01 -0800

What the hell just happened to me while I was stretching my back? My lower back was feeling tight, so I leaned back in my chair and did a big, long and deep stretch with my arms over my head. Suddenly, just as I'm feeling the muscles stretching out, my midsection becomes filled with this burning sensation that quickly fades to warmth, spreading out from my back around to my stomach and into my groin and bowels (I also felt my bowels loosen slightly). As I sat up, I became a bit lightheaded, a bit breathless and immediately developed a serious erection and became intensely aroused, all the while, my body is tingling (in a VERY pleasant way). After it passed, I repeated the stretch again to the same effect. Within 60 seconds, I feel perfectly normal again.

What the hell happened? Did I discover a super horny button or am I having a stroke?

Good stretches for an inflexible fellow?

jdroth — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:24:50 -0800

I went to see my doctor yesterday for a running injury (IT band). He says that basically I'm fit but that I have the "flexibility of a two-by-four". He wants me to do a stretching regimen three times a day — more if possible. He showed me a couple of stretches, but I'd like to do more. Can you recommend any good individual stretches or stretching routines, especially for a novice runner (and especially for one having trouble with his IT band)? YouTube clips a HUGE plus. Yoga's fine, but there's now way in hell I can do the pigeon pose (I have the flexibility of a two-by-four, remember?).

Gas crisis.

loiseau — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:46:59 -0800

My own private gas crisis. Looking for a couple of simple stretches I can do. I'm not farty, I'm just feeling gross and inflated.

I figure yoga must have postures that help with this. I know not of yoga postures. Can someone loan me a couple that will make me feel like less of a blimp? Even just easing the tender-belly sensation would be nice.

I already get lots of cardio because I bike everywhere, so exercise generally is not cutting the cheese. (har har har)

I think my tail bone pops when I stretch. You?

Anonymous — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:15:16 -0800

Why does my butt pop? Does yours? I'm asking anonymously because this question is about my butt.

Try this: Sit at your desk job for a couple of hours, then stand up and stretch. Clench your buttocks really hard. Did your butt pop?

Mine does. I think it's the tail bone. But how could that pop? It's not breaking, and I don't have an injury AFAIK. I Googled, and most of the results are about injuries.

Will doing this intentionally kill my butt?

If only it were as simple as changing the oil

EatTheWeak — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:41:38 -0800

I could use some help loosening up for my return to cycling. After a very long interval away from bicycles, I am returning to two-wheeled transport for both fitness and commuting. I was hoping some veteran Mefite cyclists might recommend a few stretches for the hips, legs and lower back. I'm feeling a lot of tension through these areas, and am hoping to learn some stretches ideal for loosening these regions up.

Stretching Without Bending

meerkatty — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:31:27 -0800

Is there a way to stretch my quadriceps without bending my knees? My right knee doesn't bend all the way - a result of constant patella dislocation when I was a teenager. I cannot do standing, sidelying or prone quadriceps stretches (all demonstrated here) with my right leg. But I desperately need to stretch and am worried about damaging my knee again because I'm not. (I'm presently running 5 times/week.) Anyone have any suggestions?

Why do T-shirts get shorter and wider?

stuckie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:16:00 -0800

Why do T-shirts become wider and shorter over time, and not the reverse? And is there any minimal-effort way to avoid this? I am a fairly thin-to-athletic-topped guy who likes his shirts kind of "fitted", and an endlessly frustrated that simply by regular washing, all my favorite shirts eventually seem to do this. And its not just me - going to thrift stores I find that most t-shirts have already succumbed to this phenomenon.

WHY!?! Can one buy particular KINDS of shirts that don't do this? Do I have to cold-wash, flat-dry EVERYTHING I own to keep this from happening? Is there a way to bring (for instance, used) shirts that have already gone this way "back from the dead" without scissors and a sewing machine?

Where can I buy women's blue jeans without "stretch" for under $50 in the US?

croutonsupafreak — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:54:01 -0800

Where can I buy women's blue jeans without "stretch" for under $50 in the US? I'll go to chains, web sites, or retailers that are local to Portland, Ore. Looking for women's size 6 or 8. I used to love the Gap's "long and lean" style. I also like most other jeans that go up to just below the belly button and have wide ankles. I HATE stretch for so many reasons that I could write a book, and as a result I don't have any blue jeans for the first time in my adult life. Are there any stores that sell non-stretch denim in decent cuts? Does non-stretch denim even exist any more?

This photo frame makes me look fat.

Jimbob — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:17:03 -0800

Understanding how to make photos look good on my cheap-ass "widescreen" digital photo frame. I bought a cheap digital photo frame; for $100 I'm not expecting much, but photos look nice and bright enough on it. Except for one problem. It's "widescreen" and it streches my photos horizontally.

As far as I can tell the pixel count ratio is the same as my photos - bits of the photos aren't being cropped off. I believe the resolution is 640 x 480.

The screen appears to be 6" wide, and 3.5" high, instead of the 4" you might expect.

Images that don't conform to a "normal" photo ratio aren't "stretched" to fit the screen - instead, you get black bars at the sides or top, as appropriate. Everything is just squashed to fit into 6x3.5" instead of 6x4.

What's the best way to process my photos so they don't look so weird on this thing? I figure I need to process my photos so they are 640 pixels wide and 480 high, but so the original photo is squashed somehow, so that when it appears in the digital photo frame, it's stretched back to it's original shape. How do I calculate how much to crop and where to stretch my images?

help me not pull my gluteus maximus

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:01:32 -0800

Ugh. How do I *not* pull my "butt" muscle? My butt muscle seems to cramp up fairly easily, sometimes when...uh...engaged in "lovin'" with my wife, sometimes in non-compromising positions. If I'm "cupping" my own butt, it would be the muscle where my pinkie or 4th finger is pointing...more or less. Looking at the picture on the Wikipedia entry, I would guess it'd be my Gluteus Medius...maybe. When the muscle cramps up, it's *really* painful, and I can't move *at all* for about 5-10 mins. It still hurts maybe 15-20 mins later. I'm in my 30's, skinny, and probably not in the greatest shape. Are there any exercises or stretches or something I can do to prevent/minimize this?

Trying to find a specific pair of stretchy Starter shorts!

ssnickerer — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:34:48 -0800

Anyone know where to buy these simple Starter stretchy shorts? Here's what they look like. I bought a pair at Walmart a little more than a year ago and loved them. I left them at my cousin's last month (really far away from home) and have since been looking to buy another pair, but, save for the above webpage, I haven't been able to find them anywhere — locally or online! Has anyone seen these around? They haven't stopped making them have they?! They're seriously my favorite shorts. =P Thanks, all!

My hamstrings! My valuable hamstrings!

thehmsbeagle — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:47:37 -0800

How do I un-tighten my super-tight hamstrings? Yes, I know you want to say "Stretch, fool!" but: I had a massage earlier today. When the therapist worked on my hamstring, it was like being stabbed with rusty daggers made of fire. It was astoundingly painful, even with a very light touch: someone could easily use this as a torture method for the tense.

I do yoga a few times a week. I'm not incredibly limber, but for pretty much everything but forward bends, I feel like I'm as flexible as I need to be. Forward bends, however, are my nemesis. I never seem to make any progress, which, since it hurts, is discouraging and off-putting.

If I'm warmed up, I can touch the floor, but I've never been able to get my palms flat on the floor. And no matter how warmed up I am, my hamstrings stay really tight, and it's still really pretty painful. Not quite the stabbed-by-fire levels I experience when someone touches the hot spots, but still: ouch. Naturally - and I know this is a less-than-ideal mindset - the pain makes me tenser, and makes it less likely that I'll breathe through the tension to release.

This has been going on, embarrassingly enough, for years, and I never seem to make much headway on the problem. So: is there some technique I should explore? (I've done Pilates and am not a fan, so much. Just in case you were about to suggest this.) Is there a kind of "Two Months To Supple Hamstrings" book I can buy?

Thanks!

preparation for elliptical machine?

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:02:56 -0800

What kind of stretches should I do before/after being on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes? I never actually learned how to stretch and I am realizing that I should probably do so before (or after?) working out because my knees feel sort of weird sometimes when I go to the gym.

What should I do? How should I do it?

How can I fix stretched-out hand holes on my sleeves?

mikespez — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:04:10 -0800

How can I fix stretched-out hand holes on my sleeves? I have quite a few sweaters and hoodies whose hand-holes are stretched out due to my rolling up my sleeves. Is there any way for me to shrink the holes back to their regular size?

The sweaters and hoodies in question are mostly an 85% cotton, 15% polyester blend.

Very tight gastrocnemius(calf) muscle?

anonymoose — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 15:49:47 -0800

RunningFilter: What do I do about a very tight gastrocnemius (calf) muscle? I'm on my 4th week of a 16 week marathon training plan (my first marathon), and my gastrocnemius gets tighter and tighter with each passing run. Assuming I understand this stuff, it's the gastrocnemius, because it's very hard to move my toes upwards ('dorsoflex'?) when my leg is straight, but easy when my leg is bent. I stretch my calves for about 90 seconds per leg, 5 times a week in the following manner:

I can't seem to get any decent amount of stretch from the against-a-wall leaning thing often recommended for calf stretching.

It's getting so tight that I can't do any hamstring stretches with a straight leg, because it feels like my calf is literally ripping in half. :P This is particularly painful with anything that even sort of resembles this:

(The seated hamstring stretches are a bit more managable)

Do I need to be stretching it even more, or what?

Un-stretching pants

elquien — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 06:13:55 -0800

PantsFilter: help me get my pants back to size! The pants that I wear to work are all dry clean only. Not a problem, except that they get stretched out from me wearing them, and dry cleaning apparently doesn't return them to their original size (like washing and drying tends to do). My pants are falling off of me (and it's not because I've lost weight, as my other pants have confirmed), and I can't figure out a way to get them back to their original size.

They are made of various fabrics (wool crepe, wool gabardine, cotton), but are all dry clean only. Any suggestions?

How do I intelligently stretch my desktop wallpaper in Windows?

waxpancake — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 08:43:50 -0800

Windows 2000/XP has three options for setting desktop wallpaper: Center, Tile, and Stretch. Unfortunately, these are all kinda dumb. If I want to set a photo from my digital camera as my wallpaper, I'm stuck with a bad fit (Center), repeating images (Tile), or an incorrect aspect ratio (Stretch). Is there any third-party utility that will intelligently resize my desktop wallpaper? In other words, I want it to fill the screen without changing the aspect ratio. Any excess on the sides would just be cut off; either the very top/bottom or left/right, depending on its orientation. This seems like a simple hack, but I can't find any utility that does it.

Stretching Shoes

Shane — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 07:53:48 -0800

Is it possible to stretch canvas shoes? Just a little? More inside. I have wide feet so I usually have to wear New Balance 2EE or 3EE, or Converse bought a size too long. But I also don't wear leather, I like to support Vegan companies, and I don't buy Chuck Taylors anymore 'cuz they're Nikes. (Didn't Chucks used to be sorta the Anti-Nike, the shoe for non-jocks/cheap punks/etc? Good business move, Nike, sewing up the market.)

This makes life buying shoes pretty damn tough. So I just ordered a pair of these Comptons and I ♥ them totally, but the left one is just a tad tight on my left big-toe tendon (the slightly larger of my two feets.)

Can I maybe wet the toe of the shoe and shove something big in it to stretch it? Or should I give up and send 'em back? :-(

T'anks.