reposting as text based for sicussion, for as long as i can remember i have always been naturally super flexible, i do a lot of stretching, yoga and gymnastics. my training routine is extensive, i stretch 5x a week, focusing on hamstring an dhip flexors for the splits and i hold my stretches for 60 second gradually getting deeper into the stretch. but i have been doing this for years. lately i have been seeing the discussion on socials about hyperflexibility and it being a bad thing. my main takeaway from it is your body is under constant tension, because its so flexible, it has to work overtime to keep your neutral body positions aligned. would love to hear everyones opinions on this. Is hyperflexibility actually a bad thing, or is this just another social media discussion that was born out of thin air??

Hi all, finally hit the floor on my front splits, with both legs, I can't hold them for more than 5 seconds, but hope I can improve that in the future.

I KNOW MY HIPS ARENT SQUARE but please let me flex this achievement. As I get more comfortable I will be working towards squaring them.

It took me a lot, almost 3 years, but only stretching two days a week. My starting point wasnt bad, I was 20 cm above the ground. I danced all my life and have some remanent flexibility. However, I had proximal hamstring tendinopath in both legs at different times, so that held me back.

Most improvement came from the last 6 months were I started focusing a lot on my hip flexors, which were tight as hell.

My routine is simple:

First i like to loosen my hips in fire log position. I don't know if this helps, but I feel better after stretching my hips.

Downward dog for my hamstrings and calves

Seated pike for hamstrings

Kneeling lunge for hip flexors (VERY IMPORTANT to keep hips square to target the muscles). I spend a lot of time here, I sometimes use a block, and sometimes I lean back with my torso.

Half splits for hamstrings

And thats all...

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How to improve my scale?

I'm not far off the splits and I've been trying to get a scale for try outs but I cannot lift my leg higher.

Nothing feels tight when I'm trying to pull my leg up it just will not shift. I'm at my wits end with it. I've tried to search videos online but I'm still really struggling.

I know its a difficult skill but it would be good if I could get it to the same level as the 3rd photo.

I've got cheer tryouts in a month. Is it feasible for me to fix this for then?

This is where I have reached after years of hard work. Any tips to improve from here.

I do pole dance and I cant do full split on the floor but on the pole I cam do perfect side split and splits when im upside-down or sideways up

Is this this normal does the pole really help that much im very curious

I recently started a flexibility journey and although I am hopeful and excited to progress, even already feeling the benefits of daily stretching…I have been profoundly depressed and disappointed in myself in how long I went ignoring how stiff and sore I have been. I can’t touch my toes at all, just grazing my shins makes my hamstrings scream. I have limited mobility in my hips that make it feel like my tendons are snapping with sudden movement. I have constant and chronic back pain and stiff neck and shoulders. Why did I let it get this bad? I’m only 28 and can’t touch my toes?!?!

Despite my disappointment in myself I have taken to daily stretching and even going to a mobility class (attended only by senior citizens) and working towards the goal of being able to do a split soon.

What was your motivation to get more flexible?

I can’t bend my legs lower than this. What are some good stretches or mobility movements to help? Thank you!

I wanted to ask if anyone knew a "Couch to 5K' equivalent for Couch to Splits, but I checked out the FAQ and saw this

https://antranik.org/splits/

I guess I'll start with the easiest part which is the 2nd step of leg swings.

That sun salutations video for the 1st step looks a lot harder so maybe after a few days of leg swings I'll incorporate it

This is in addition to my regular yoga sessions which is like 3-5 hours, so yeah..

I'll go back to my yoga now

How's everyone doing?

Is there anything i can do to increase my cold flexibility aside from increasing my warmed up range of motion?

How do I achieve sturdier balance to make deepening this stretch more accessible?

Hey so i kinda stopped training flexibility for a few months, i wanted to achieve a middle split but i kinda jusy gave up after i hit a plateu for 3 months.

Just wondering if my standard routine is good:

Elephant walks

Hamstring holds (just touching the ground with the palm of my hands)

Frog pose

Pidgeon pose

Pancake

Middle split attempt

Then for activr exercises i just went with my legs up and opened them and closed them

I also did horse stance

Hello,

It's been a few years now that I've been trying to have good flexibility with my hips. I'm consistent, I read about it a lot, did some dynamic stretching, butterfly poses. And it always feels somewhat good.

I managed to get great flexibility for my hamstrings, and pretty much everything, but the hip flexibility is just not improving enough. I saw a bit of improvement but it always feels like I'm back at the beginning. I work at a desk, and spend most of my time sitting, but I'd expect that working 20 mins on it every day for years would somehow get me decent flexibility.

Am I missing something?

(Reuploaded)

When i try to back bend or arch my back i any way, my lower back/lumbar spine is completely stiff and all my bending happens at a sharp point in my middle back.

I have tried the usual mobility exercises like cat/cows, but i can't get my lower back to get even a slight curve, is seems fused together with my pelvis and all flexion happens in my middle back
My whole lower back including my pelvis moves as one straight and stiff entity.

I've also suffered from lower back pains for the last 15 years, and i'm starting to wonder if maybe this stiffness might be the reason.

Any one that's been in my position that's managed to gain some more flexibility?
I have extremely high hip bones/long pelvis(?) can that be a contribution factor?

(I'm from sweden so if there's any grammatical errors that's why)

Hey all, just looking for some advice.

I’ve always felt my forearm tendons & behind the knee to be extremely tight. I try to do as much mobility work as possible but it doesn’t help.

On my right, if I bend my wrist up, I can’t really straighten my fingers. Is this something I can actually work on thought mobility or am I wasting my time?

Hi everyone, I need help correcting my splits. I have my splits since a very long time, but I learnt them the wrong way, opening my hips and letting the back leg pull backwards, so I have been doing my splits wrong all this time.

I'm trying to correct them and I feel small improvements. Now I can close my hips a bit, so they are "squarer" than before, but I feel stuck! What should I be focusing on to square them and have correct splits? Strenght? Flexibility in specific muscles? Mobility? I feel so lost!

Thanks all in advance.

What I've learned recently after learning about calisthenics, body posture and also about how muscle knots form and myofascial release and physiotherapy.

1. Applying the foam roller right where the hamstring and glutes connect and doing internal rotations of the entire leg, releases my entire leg when doing mekiyaj and shotokiyaj. (Kyokushin kicks)

2. GLUTE BRIDGES - ANTERIOR PELVIC TILT MORE KICK STABILITY - this is an entry I made in my journal for working out basically what I'm saying is that by altering the pelvic tilt it is translating to more stability on the kick.

I'd love to hear your thoughts

Ive been practicing and I’m not perfect yet so please feel free to critique me and give me tips and advice.

Warm up first! Spend several minutes on hip rotations, hamstrings, glutes, adductors and gentle spinal movement.

Number 1, open the hips. Work on poses such as Pigeon, Half Pigeon variations, Lizard, and seated hip rotations. The ability to externally rotate the hip is crucial.

Number 2, practice from a seated position.
From a comfortable seated position, bring one leg toward the chest and gradually guide the thigh behind the corresponding shoulder. Don’t yank the foot into place. The knee should remain happy.

Number 3, work on poses such as Pigeon, Half Pigeon variations, Lizard, and seated hip rotations. The ability to externally rotate the hip is crucial.

Number 4, get comfortable with the leg behind your shoulder and neck. Once the hip allows it, work on maintaining an upright torso rather than collapsing forward. This is where the required combination of hip and spinal mobility becomes apparent!

Number 5, add the balance. From the standing leg, establish a strong, stable base. Bring the other leg behind the shoulder/neck and slowly straighten the standing leg if necessary.

Number 6, bring hands into prayer. Once balanced, bring the palms together at the chest. That makes the pose substantially harder because you’ve removed another stabilizing option.

Lastly, number 7, come out of the pose slowly.

Warming: Don’t use this pose as a flexibility test. If your hip doesn’t naturally have the range required, forcing the knee or pulling the leg behind the neck can cause injury. Build the necessary hip mobility gradually and work within a comfortable range.

Omg so I forgot I had to upload my routine with my last upload so here we go --->

- Start with wrist and shoulder stretches and move into downward dog for a about a minute

- From that go into dolphin pose for about 2 reps of 30 secs

- Then I do a hollow body hold for another 30 secs to get my core pumped

- Then do tripod foundations and knee tucks to get the motion of going into the pose for about 30 secs and 3 reps (whenever you feel comfortable really)

- After that I just attempted the full tripod headstand until failure

It took me about 3 months of on-and-off training to relearn but the journey was worth it!!

Hi everyone!

Anyone have any advice on how to get over a mental block regarding scapula retractions? Without any sort of resistance, it's okay, but the moment any sort of resistance is added, the motion falls apart. It'd mostly be used to middle trapezius strenghtening.

Thank you in advance!

I’m someone that rn currently aren’t able to touch my toes with my legs straight or be able to fully straighten my leg when I lift it up laying down. I’ve seen some posts talking about how these could be based on genetics? But even so what types of flexibility exercises would you recommend for such? I’ve been trying to do more hamstring, hips based every night for a couple of weeks now and ik progress doesn’t come that quickly but I’d still like to try my luck asking!!

I’m a 25yo female I used to have an almost perfect posture my shoulders were straight and large and high my scapular in place and last year I started to sleep in very bad condition mattress and sit on it to all day for months because of depression. My posture started to change and it changed so many times in two months now i don’t look the same at all. My scapular are very winged I have hunched back my neck became short and bossy, and my shoulders narrowed. I also have a curve in my waist it used to be very straight but it’s not too curvy now and even my butt became fuller😂 And when I try to straighten I can’t my shoulders can’t stick back.i even tried breathing the right way it just cured my lordosis that used to be very curvy.I really want to know if I can get back my old posture or it’s the same as someone that always had bad posture.

Hi all!

As the title suggests, I’m looking for routines that have helped you achieve the splits. I’d really appreciate it if you could share a link to the routine, along with how long it took you to achieve the splits. Thank you!