Need to drastically improve flexibility

[Zeal]

Doing these heavy compound exercises, like deep squats and deadlifts, has made it clear to me that my flexibility is total sh**. I'm ectomorphic and 6'3", and there's no way I can bend over and touch my toes, for example. I realize this can be dangerous, as I'm dealing with these heavy weights with tight quads and such, and not rounding my back doing these exercises is practically impossible. A recipe for injury, to be sure. Anybody have any tips/routines I can use to deal with this? I'm looking for drastic improvement.

 

[future_strongguy]

Yep, here you go:

Before every workout, 5 minutes running on the treadmill, then do these:
http://stronglifts.com/7-dynamic-stretches-to-improve-your-hip-mobility/
Then do these:
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-improve-your-ankle-mobility/
1-2 sets of 10.

Then squat. Make sure to do warm ups sets of 3, 2, and 1, unless using weight less than 80 lbs, increasing weight by 30-40 lbs each set.

On off days, do the same, but add a few static stretches after the 9 dynamic ones. My favorite hamstring stretch:

stand, feet together, unlocked but straight knees. Push hips back, keeping chest up. Chest up is the most important thing. rounding the lower back will move the stretch from your hamstrings to your lower back. Try reach the point where your torso is parallel with the ground.

also, do the squat stretch. look for it in this article (somewhere in the middle): http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-technique-fix-common-problems/#stretch

Tips for static stretches. Do as many sets are you want, but never longer than 30 seconds.

Doing the dynamic stretches not only let me go deeper on squats, but gave me more strength. The soreness on my lower back was gone, and I felt I could do my 5RM as a 10RM.

 

[Quagmire911]

Yep, here you go:

Before every workout, 5 minutes running on the treadmill, then do these:
http://stronglifts.com/7-dynamic-stretches-to-improve-your-hip-mobility/
Then do these:
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-improve-your-ankle-mobility/
1-2 sets of 10.

Then squat. Make sure to do warm ups sets of 3, 2, and 1, unless using weight less than 80 lbs, increasing weight by 30-40 lbs each set.

On off days, do the same, but add a few static stretches after the 9 dynamic ones. My favorite hamstring stretch:

stand, feet together, unlocked but straight knees. Push hips back, keeping chest up. Chest up is the most important thing. rounding the lower back will move the stretch from your hamstrings to your lower back. Try reach the point where your torso is parallel with the ground.

also, do the squat stretch. look for it in this article (somewhere in the middle): http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-technique-fix-common-problems/#stretch

Tips for static stretches. Do as many sets are you want, but never longer than 30 seconds.

Doing the dynamic stretches not only let me go deeper on squats, but gave me more strength. The soreness on my lower back was gone, and I felt I could do my 5RM as a 10RM.

^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Zeal]

Thanks a lot. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. There are some more good articles on that stronglifts site as well.

 

[Throttle]

static stretches before you lift make me nervous, but i realize there's a huge difference between stretching your targets, synergists, and stabilizers, agonists versus antagonists, etc. etc., i just can't remember which you need to avoid stretching statically before lifting and which are fine to stretch before. time for one of you smart alecks with a degree in this crap to make yourself useful.

my rule of thumb is to leave static stretches for after lifting but i know that's overly limiting, i just can't recall why......