Losing Progress

I feel like over the past few weeks I have become significantly less flexible. Now, this is completely understandable if I were a couch potato. However, I have been working out quite often. I have three-hour long dance classes twice per week, and also try to go to the rec center on campus or work out at home two or three other times per week.

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Despite all this I have actually gained a few pounds (I don't think it's muscle mass, either. My tum tum sticks out quite a bit) and can no longer do movements that once came so easy to me. I feel a definite tightness in all of my movements, ranging from the mermaid pose to a simple standing pike pose. The thought of attempting the splits in this condition makes me cringe!

I wonder if this is the result of one of two things: a) not doing enough post-workout stretching. I made an effort to stretch more afterwards tonight. b) not working on my flexibility often enough. Surprisingly my dance classes don't have much focus on flexibility so I'm really left on my own to work on stretching. This means I only do intense flexibility work two or three times per week (when I'm on top of my game, that is).

On the other hand I am seeing significant progress in my ab strength. At the beginning of the semester I struggled with the series of 110 crunches. Now I can breeze through the 220 series of crunches and still be ready for more.