Meet Kim- a small business owner of The Lunch Lady, a meal-planning service in Alberta, and a mother of four. She uses WeStretch to keep her motivated to stretch.

I would definitely say I’m feeling better overall.

I was decently flexible as a kid- I could touch my toes with no problem! As I aged, I lost that, but now I can touch the floor again, even if I have difficulty bending over from aging.

What motivates me to stretch is when my employees say that I am moving better than before- even if I didn’t always notice the improvement, they did. Overall, my balance and my range of motion are significantly greater.

Since WeStretch is the only physical activity I am doing right now, I can’t attribute how I’m feeling to anything else. I do yoga occasionally, but with yoga, you’re bound by the schedule they have.

Staying motivated to stretch by achieving your goals.

I set mini goals, like the other night, when I had 258 poses, I pushed myself to get to 100 so I can focus on watching Ada. Once I hit the 100-pose mark, my next lofty goal is to get to 200. Then my last goal is 248 since the last ten are easy and go by quickly.

When I first did a long routine, I was upset because it was a 45-minute routine and I found out there was a badge for doing 42 minutes AFTER I finished. I had to do another routine with just 42 minutes to get that badge.

Stretching to take care of your body as you age.

I’m motivated to stretch because of my chronic knee problems. That, plus normal joint pain, and arthritis, and I feel sore whenever the weather changes.

I look at my parents- at my mom in particular- and I can’t be like that and my husband agrees. When we’re older, we need to be able to do things and I want to keep my mobility as much as I can.

The dangers of doing exercise that isn’t right for you.

I once did a fitness boot camp that was not the right program for me. They were extremely fit- marathon runners and extreme ninjas- and somehow I ended up in this class, feeling overwhelmed.

I cried every time: I cried when I got home, and I cried during the workout. It was so hard. I was incredibly hurt, and my body ached, but I finished that boot camp.

My husband kept telling me to quit because I was hurting myself. I wouldn’t because I didn’t want to look like a loser who couldn’t do it.

That was wrong, but when I am committed to the task at hand, I would never cheat or quit.

Being persistent and stretching daily for over a year and a half.

I’m around 521 days in a row. I couldn’t imagine not doing it today and then being at zero… I worry if that happens, would I ever start again?

Could you imagine if you were at 1,000 days and you had to get surgery? What if they call me for this knee surgery in 3-4 years? How many days will I be at then?

Truly, though, it’s not about the most days you stretch. It’s great to stretch consecutively and big milestones should be celebrated, but it’s about how good you feel. You just have to find your motivation to get started.

Set smaller goals so you can succeed.

I always believed that a 3-minute static stretch isn’t going to achieve anything. That’s why I always had to do 20 or 30 minutes. ‘They’ always said that something wasn’t worth doing unless it was a decent length of time.

It’s intriguing to think about doing more stretches during the day and with a shorter timeframe. How is doing a 3-minute stretch beneficial and then how do you feel rewarded if you do ten 3-minute stretches in a day?

Earning the hardest badges.

I did the plank and the cat stretch badge one weekend. The plank I did for 8 minutes. Even though it was incredibly hard, I didn’t want to stop once I started.

I never thought about it because I normally do 30 minutes and I didn’t want to feel like a loser, picking a 3-minute routine to get my plank badge.

I immediately did a cat routine afterward for 10-15 minutes which was fine, but since I had about three hours to myself, I figured I would do a 40-minute workout to start another badge. Without thinking about it too much, I started the next routine.

I never cleared out my settings from doing the cat pose.

I ended up on my knees for another 40 minutes.

Truly, I cannot be on my knees for that long, but if I stopped the routine, I would have to completely start over again and I was already a good 10- or 15-minutes in.

After finishing, I basically rolled over and couldn’t stand up, but I didn’t notice how bad it was until Monday. That’s when my abs, my thighs, and even my lower back were incredibly sore.

I still stretched on Sunday, though!

Pose adjustments.

I modify what stretches I can, but there are some I cannot do, even like turning out my knees!

I always have my filters on, and I never go from standing to sitting down for the sake of my knees. By the time I get down on the floor, it’s embarrassing, but I take a long time getting back up again. I feel like an 80-year-old.

What I haven’t tried yet is to do a routine where I am just laying on the floor. There’s a guy that has cerebral palsy and he does separate laying and standing routines, so I could do that.

Sharing the WeStretch app.

The struggle when sharing Westretch with someone is that they assume that you’re not holding the poses long enough and they discount it, which is unfortunate. I get disheartened when I share it with friends since they don’t often give it a try and that is incredibly frustrating.

If someone asked me directly, I would inform them about my challenges with arthritis and how I’m moving better. I would ask them if they’re doing nothing, how could they say that doing 10 minutes of stretching isn’t helpful?

Final Thoughts.

WeStretch is fantastic because you do it when you can and it’s incredibly simple. The challenge has to be that people think there has to be this longevity when holding a pose.

I genuinely enjoy doing WeStretch, and I’m proud to be doing it. I cannot wait to see what comes next!

Want another user story that will get you motivated to stretch? Meet Maria in this blog post.

Interviewed and written by Kayla Willsey

Updated May 17, 2021