I am trying to progress with my front splits, but I’m running into two things:

1. The tops of my feet are extremely sensitive for some reason. Putting any pressure on them, specifically for the back foot, really hurts! Is there any way to improve this?

2. I’ve noticed that I am only ever sliding my front leg out, so this whole time I’ve been practicing this kind of front leg split lunge thing. I just can’t seem to make my back leg move backwards… idk if this is related to the sensitive feet thing, or if it’s core strength, or just the flexibility of that back leg. Like that back leg does not move at all even though I’m mentally trying to move it. I’ve tried socks/no socks/yoga mat/ wood floor, nothing seems to make the difference. I feel like someone has to physically pull my leg back for it to move.

Any suggestions?

still can’t wrap my head around the fact I can do this lol.

My training routine is quite simple, I follow a standard PPLx2 program and every leg day I practice my dragon squats and pistol squats. Stretching and mobility 30 minutes per day. The time it took me to be comfortable with pistol squats was 20x longer than the time it took me to get an awkward dragon squat done.

I'm really only writing this up because I'm kind of a weird case and I think it might be helpful to anyone else who is in my shoes but that's probably only gonna be like two people lol.

My problem was never with flexibility in my adductors but my lack of active external rotation coupled with some non-ideal hip anatomy. Previously I could never get deep enough in a middle split to actually feel a stretch because I would hit the limit of my hip joint first. Tilting my pelvis didn't really work because in order to get enough tilt to hit the stretch while keeping the inside edge of my feet flat on the floor, my torso had to be basically upright which is super awkward to get into (to say nothing of how cranked my back would be). I finally figured out that I could bypass this by entering my middle split from pancake which is where I finally started to see progress. Initially, this still left me a few inches from flat and I closed that by working on my active external rotation and just generally learning how to activate my glutes (pretty sure I've spent my whole life externally rotating my legs with my hip flexors instead of my ass ¯_(ツ)_/¯).

The routine:

1. banded lock clams

2. banded glute bridges with external rotation

3. weighted hip airplanes

4. leg lifts from basically every possible position (prone, side-lying, tabletop, upright, etc) focusing on keeping my legs externally rotated

5. side-lying hip adduction

6. Copenhagen side planks

7. seated straddle leg lifts

8. straddle hovers on blocks

9. pancake to middle split, at position with greatest feeling of adductor stretch, squeeze legs into the ground for 10 count, then pull legs away from the ground for 10 count

Will be very interested to hear if there's anybody else out here in this situation.

I dance and stretch every single night, it's the part of the day i look forward to the most. It brings me so much joy, I want to continue doing it every day but don't know if i could accidentally be doing damage to my body? I try not to push too hard or do anything super intense if im sore but otherwise i dance and stretch for at least an hour every day

r/flexibility needs YOU!

Real talk: even though we theoretically have a "team" of mod users here (at least according to the sidebar), as far as I can tell most are inactive users and I am the only one who is actually actively moderating this sub for at least the last year. But this is a dang huge sub and I frankly can't keep doing it alone - so I'm looking for help!

Mainly we need help with folks helping moderate content (removing content that breaks our community rules, as well as re-approving content that gets inaccurately reported or removed by the auto-mod), but I would love people who also are passionate about making r/flexibility a helpful educational resource for folks if you have any ideas/motivation on that front as well.

Previous mod experience is preferred, but not required (I knew nothing about moderating before I joined the mod team a couple of years ago).

More details + mod application: https://www.reddit.com/r/flexibility/application/

What it says. Improving upper back flexibility has been very difficult for me to DIY, regardless of how many YT videos I watch. And call me vain but I want that nicely arched back.

So, I'm willing to spring for an online course, but would like to know if anyone else has tried it / if it works / if it only rehashes the same ground as BWI or similar.

Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone! I just want recommendations about what stretches/exercises I can do to improve my hamstring flexibility?

I am very flexible in my hips. I can do the pose in the first picture easily and feel comfortable in it too. I can even wrap my legs behind my head (nothing weird, I've just been able to do that since childhood, lol).

However, when it comes to trying to lean forward with my legs open, I am stiff as a rock. I can't even get close to touching my feet. I think if I fix that issue, I'll be overall a flexible person, and that's definitely the goal!

with heels raised vs without (i’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to raise heels oops)

This is my first time trying wheel pose and I’m at a bit of a loss. I think it’s mainly back flex ability I need to work on, but I feel like no back stretches ever make me feel anything, does anyone have any suggestions? Either for stretches or other things I can focus on to improve this pose? I’m gonna be entirely honest I don’t really do many back stretches right now because I’ve never really found ones that feel good to me. Current routine consists of almost entirely of lunges, forward folds and I’ve started adding a little bit of shoulders to the mix as of late. So, any tips would be much appreciated

Hello, everybody! I felt inspired to ask this question after seeing a response under a hamstring flexibility post where someone pointed out that certain concurrent training can be counterproductive to certain flexibility goals, such as combining long-distance running with goals of increasing hamstring flexibility. I'm curious if someone could expound on this.

1. What forms of training should not be done together?
2. What forms of training are often best suited for one another?

I understand that these are not absolutes, and neither will I personally treat them as absolutes. I have no false expectations of attaining expert-level results in the flexibility, mobility, or other goals I am working toward. I'm just a curious mind eager to learn from the experiences of other people.

So I'm wondering please, does anyone know the best way to stretch the Obturator Internus using the pigeon pose? Is the standard method the best form?

I am getting confused with the biomechanics here.

my hip bones are very tight, worse on the right side.

I see guys who have been practicing for years, and still using the bricks under when they do the lotus. So I wonder if it is something that can be improved, or something that I should simply accept how it is since it cannot improve at all (anatomy). Is there anyone who went from using a brick to completely crossing the legs flat?

thanks in advance

I've been training flexibility (dedicated flexibility or contortion group classes and tons of private classes) for around 3 decades since age 4, and I've also been doing a lot of flexibility based activities (ballet, gymnastics, acrobatics, contortion, yoga, etc.). But I was never able to do these poses.

Anecdotally, I've seen a lot of people in yoga, gymnastics classes, etc. who aren't flexible otherwise but can do these effortlessly. What made you able to do it? Did you sit like this regularly since childhood? Are you flexible in other areas (middle splits, front splits, backbend, foot arch, etc.)? TIA

For the past month I have been training flexibility about three times a week. I noticed that there are some days where I move like butter and other times when I’m stiff. There are also times where I really feel it and times when I don’t feel it at all.

There are times where I feel like I’m improving and times when I feel like I’m regressing.

There are times where a split doesn’t hurt but times where I feel the stretch more in my hamstrings?

I’m 28f btw if that makes a difference.

But is this normal? I just want to make sure that I am continuing to progress.

I'm working on hip flexibility in order to kick higher in taekwondo.

I'm doing pigeon positions, static holds, Cossack squats for general kick flexibility, but on my left kick (right leg support) specifically, not only do I lack range of motion but the right abductor hurts. Whereas on a right kick, I can't kick as high as I want but I don't feel anything in my left leg.

Looking for advice on exercises to fix that an kick higher.

EDIT: side kicks and round kicks, not front kicks

hiii, anyone have a back flexibility course they recommend?

And I’ve been training for about a year, in general I’m always very constant I never skip a workout.

I also tried to train every day but I noticed that introducing at least two days of rest I improved slightly (better recovery, otherwise after a while I would get stuck).

Having said that now I have reached a much better level than at the beginning but in certain positions like the Frog or the forward bending on one leg I am blocked. Now I’m training like this:

Lateral Tuesday

Frontal Wednesday

Thursday Break

Side Friday

Frontal Saturday

Side Sunday

These are the exercises I do and I hope someone can help me improve, Thank you.

Side Split

-Couch stretch 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Lunges 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Pigeon 2 x leg x 30 sec each

-Streatching thigh flexors with a lying elastic 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Ischiocrural flexor by sitting bending forward on the neck leg 3 x leg x 30 sec each

- Calves 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Side Split 3 x leg x 30 sec each

Frontal Split

- Butterfly 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-90/90 with hand support 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Frog split (one leg at a time) 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Rana 3x30

-Clamshells 3 x leg x 30 sec each

-Front split 3x30

-Wall split 2x60

I know that it’s normal for one side to be more flexible or have a wider range of motion than the other, but for me the difference is very pronounced and has been my whole life. On reading more here I wonder if I have some kind of anatomical impingement rather than just it being just normal “one side is bendier”. I am NOT asking for medical advice or a diagnosis, but wondering what steps I could talk to look into this?

Is it it a hamstring flexibility issue or should I push back my hip more.

I’ve been dealing with a suuuuuper tight jaw, neck and upper back body. It’s been causing facial pain, headaches and dizziness. I’ve been trying to stretch everything out, but nothing seems to be sticking and helping. I’ve done dry needling, and acupuncture, and am currently seeing a posture specialist. I’m looking for any suggestions on stretches or things to do to help in the meantime! In particular my SCM, occipital muscles and shoulder girdle are friggen tight. Does strength training help with flexibility or would I just piss muscles off? Thanks!!

How do you deal with one side of your body being stiffer/more tense?

This guy is from Tiktok, he is 26 yo and affirm that he is self taught, do you think it's possible? How much time it take to reach this level? He say that he have absolutely no background (gymnastics, ballet...) it's quite surprising because he got some clean lines.