Ankle range of motion

[VeloVT]

I could do this (had boyfriend look at picture and confirm that I was at a similar angle -- he said I was a little steeper actually). I have somewhat hyperflexible hamstrings, though. I can place my palms flat on the floor, several inches behind my heels. I once had a yoga teacher give me an unsolicited article called "Yoga for the Overly Flexible." I danced for 13 years...

BUT... I felt it in my calves and actually had to work to get my heels to the ground (they didn't just go there). My calves have gotten tight in the past few years (causing a few running injuries), and my hips have become a mess since I started cycling and running seriously, but my hamstrings are still pretty limber I guess.

Stretching can continue to improve flexibility as you age but you have to devote a fair amount of time to improve (probably no less than 30-45 minutes 4-5 times per week). Just stretching for a few minutes after a workout will help keep stiffness at bay, but probably won't improve flexibiltiy.

I have a running book that touts AIS (active isolated stretching, done with a rope), as being revolutionary. I haven't done it much myself, but I've done it a little bit when I was running a lot and I found that the calf exercises involving wrapping the rope around one's foot and either pulling back or rolling to the inside or outside did do an excellent job stretching small muscles in the calf that can be hard to reach. I remember when I was little and my ballet teacher was trying to develop ankle/foot flexibility (which depends a good deal on calf flexibility, I guess), we always worked with partners, who might actually sit on our pointed feet...