Sit & Reach Test: General Exercise & Fitness Discussions

tammy · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

Flexibility
Maintaining flexibility is important when working out and being active. The sit and reach test is an excellent way to measure your flexibility of the hip and lower back.

Sit and Reach Test
Sit with your legs straight at the bottom of a flight of step with your feet against the bottom of the step. Place a ruler on the step with your toes acting as the zero mark. Bend towards the ruler and see how many inches past your toes you can reach. Your goal is to gradually increase the number. Make sure to record your number so you can see your improvements.

marie · **Site Rank:** Healthy Associate

I remember doing this test as a child in P.E. classes. I'm used to be good at it, but I doubt I'll be able to get much passed my toes anymore!

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

Quote:

Sit and Reach Test
Sit with your legs straight at the bottom of a flight of step with your feet against the bottom of the step. Place a ruler on the step with your toes acting as the zero mark. Bend towards the ruler and see how many inches past your toes you can reach.

I don't understand... sit with your legs straight at the bottom of a flight of step with your feet against the bottom of the step... ???? ... place a ruler on the step with your toes acting as the zero mark... ???? Guess I am really stupid, but I just don't understand these instructions.

Can you explain this a bit easier?

tammy · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

Sit at the bottom of the stairs with your legs facing the stairs straight out. Put the ruler on the first step and press your feet up against the first step's base. Then reach forward seeing how far you can get past that first step and measure with the ruler.

Does that make more sense?

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

Yes, now I get it, thanks.

joebert · **Site Rank:** Moderator

Check this thing out. See how there's a strip in the middle and what looks like a little knobby thing in front of her fingers ?

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Rather than actually placing the ruler on the step, leave it off to the side and place a quarter or something similar on the edge of the step instead.

The idea is that you'll be sliding the quarter as you stretch and measuring the distance between the back edge of the quarter and the edge of the step once you're done.
Doing it this way will let you close your eyes and relax if you want, rather than needing to try and watch how far your fingers go or need someone there to watch for you.

If you have relatively shallow steps or a really long reach and find yourself touching the riser of the next step not preventing you from going any further, try placing a shoe box or something similar in-between your feet and the bottom step. Then, you add the width of that object to the number you get from the step.

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

joebert wrote:

Rather than actually placing the ruler on the step, leave it off to the side and place a quarter or something similar on the edge of the step instead.

Thanks for posting that photo, now I can see exactly how it's done. That's a great idea about the quarter, and the shoebox too. Not that I will ever need to add a shoebox... lol... but it gives others the idea.

So I have another question, you say maintaining flexibility is important when working out and being active and that the sit and reach test is an excellent way to measure your flexibility of the hip and lower back.

So after you do the measuring, and say you can't even reach to your toes, let alone past them, then what?? Is there an exercise to do to become more flexible, or is the sit and reach the exercise to do to gain more flexibility?

joebert · **Site Rank:** Moderator

Quote:

So after you do the measuring, and say you can't even reach to your toes, let alone past them, then what??

Find a wooden board, a board from a board game like Monopoly or Clue, or something similar.
Get something that weighs a pound or two.
Place the board on the step so that it hangs over the edge, if it's too short for your toes, try placing it on a higher step or placing books under the board.
Place the weighted object on top of it to keep it in place.

Now you have an extension similar to the one in those photos that you can place the quarter on.

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

joebert wrote:

Find a wooden board, a board from a board game like Monopoly or Clue, or something similar.
Get something that weighs a pound or two.
Place the board on the step so that it hangs over the edge, if it's too short for your toes, try placing it on a higher step or placing books under the board.
Place the weighted object on top of it to keep it in place.
Now you have an extension similar to the one in those photos that you can place the quarter on.

You wouldn't happen to have a photo of that too, would you?????? Just kiddnig, I understand. Great idea.

joebert · **Site Rank:** Moderator

Now I just need to figure out how to deal with the steps I have here with no risers, my feet can go right under the steps !

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

Is it possible to put some sort of block under the step?? :neutral:

tammy · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

You really don't need a step. You just need something hard to press your feet up against so you can lean forward and see how far over your toes you can reach...

joebert · **Site Rank:** Moderator

I ought to be good with my feet against the wall for awhile, I can just barely reach my toes. I figure I'll start putting my finger tips further up the wall and pay attention to how close I am to placing my palms flat on the wall in front of me.

HealthyPals · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

Here is a video that shows how to perform the sit and reach test. They have specific boxes designed for it.

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

That box is cool. I wonder how much it cost?? Probably a lot.

They should have added a little thingy you could push with your fingers, then you leave it where you reached, then the next time, if you can move the little thingy, you know right away you have improved. I can't think of the word I am trying to explain for the little thingy I am talking about. Otherwise, how the heck are you suppose to see how far you reached while sitting there in that position? Stretch your head really far up? Or did I miss something in that video?

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