Hi so I started stretching about 5 months ago after I realized I couldnt feel my glutes in like hip thrusts and abductions, I did a little bit of research and realized it may have been due to tightness which makes sense because I had never been a flexible person (I was always jealous about my classmates being able to touch their feet with ther hands) so I made up a routine that included hip flexors and hamstrings and next thing you know after a week of doing them I went to the gym and I felt my glutes on fire like never before but not only that I too noticed a great improvement on my flexibility, I kid you not after like too weeks I was doing full midle splits and I could touch the ground easily with my hands but then somethings happened and I stopped going to the gym and in turn I too stopped doing these flexibilty routines. Now I can finally go back to the gym so I figured I should retake the flexibily routine before going back so I dont have the same issues but now I find myself doing them and I noticed that I dont feel the hamstrings stretches like I did before, specially with the right leg, for the most part I feel my calf and when I do feel the hamstring is only like the left side of my leg closer to the adductors rather than the back side of my leg, I do have to mention that lately I have been seating for hours a day and maybe thats whats messing up the hamstrings and making my calf take over or something, if anyone can give me advice on what to do or a stretch where I can isolate the hamstrings so my calf doesnt take over I would really appreciate it

Maybe a silly question and its anecdotal to what I see. I work in dance (not as a dancer, just do stretching in my free time) and I notice its so much more common for people to be able to a side split than a middle split. I’m fairly naturally flexible and can naturally do a middle split but can’t do a side split! I maybe trained 2 weeks to get all the way to the floor but was able to get close naturally. I have been working on my side split for a long time with way less success and much slower progress.

Dancers I work with are impressed by my middle split and say they cant do theirs but they can all do amazing side splits! I thought middle splits also take less muscles to actually get there? And maybe its just people I personally interact with but it seems to be a trend

Sorry if this is a dumb question but was just curious!

EDIT: I messes up wording, I meant why are front splits (one leg in front of you) more common than middle splits (legs straight out to sides at 180 degrees)

So I used to do random yoga videos on youtube years back, nothing structured. Last year i started strength training 4 days a week, and it has been great. However, I ditched mobility training and this has led me to extreme tightness in my body. I want my body to not feel rusty.

What I learned from the gym is that I strive under routine, and repeating the same exercises. So what I'm asking from is whether there is a way I can structure my routine for best results. I would appreciate if it is evidence based as well. Do you all recommended a specific routine? Should I do 1 full body, 1 upper, and 1 lower body stretch per week for example? or different combinations? How does once structure a mobility session? What muscle groups should I focus on during each session? How many times a week and for how long?

I'm know I'm asking a lot, so I would appreciate any books or resources that talk about this, and I can do my homework. thank you!

P.S. I know I'm taking the strength training analogy very literally, but that's because that's all I know

I've been stretching for almost a year now and I am SO CLOSE to getting my right splits but I've been kind of stuck at the same spot for the past month. my legs just feel stiff and idk what stretches to do to finally be able to touch the ground. when I start my stretch I'm super stiff, and it usually takes me quite a few minutes of actually holding myself in my splits to unstiffen myself (I'm sorry I dont really know how else to explain it?). its like no matter how far i got the day before, i start at square one the next day.

anyways any tips/stretches to do for that last push?? thanks!

He leído que se puede recuperar con ejercicio...pero me gustaría leer algunos testimonios

I have tried many flexibility exercises to obtain middle splits, side splits, etc(just to get really flexible) but I realized that all them are exercises for people without hyperextended knees and I’m worried that it won’t work. I’m 16, and I’ve been doing flexibility exercises for two months consistently but sees no result. Trust me, I really have a very bad hyperextended knee.

Ever since i started my flexibility routine, i’ve formed a lot of stretch marks on my middle thighs also some on my hip flexors, but i see a lot of people saying that stretch marks aren’t caused from actually stretching only muscle/weight gain or pregnancy, however ive been at the same weight and haven’t gained any muscle so is it really from stretching?
Also they only started forming after i started practicing my middle splits

finally managed to do a full reverse Nordic, going all the way down and coming back up without using my hands.

I’m pretty happy that I can finally do the full movement, but I don’t think my form is perfect yet. I feel like there are still some things I could improve in terms of my hip position, how straight I keep my body, and the overall control of the movement.

I’d really appreciate any feedback on my form. Is there anything that stands out as incorrect or something I should work on before trying to progress further?

Thanks!

Been stretching multiple times a week for 2 months now and not even any closer to touching my toes (I’m 24f) I’ve never been flexible and seems that stretching doesn’t even help? In 2020 or so I challenged myself to learn the splits and even after stretching every day or every other day for about 6 months I saw no progress at all and just gave up. What is going on

for the peoples who have seriously improved their flexibility, did you follow a strict program, or was it more about incorporating little stretches throughout the day? i often fnd myself chilling in a strech of im watching tv or just relaxing these days rather than having a rigid routine.

would love to hear what actually worked for people rather than just the usual “stretch consistently” advice.I feel like there are so many different approaches to flexibility training, so I’m curious what actually made a noticeable difference for everyone here??

I can't do Asian squats in bare feet or flat shoes and would like to be able to. I have a pair of shoes with a chunk heel about 1.5" tall, which is just enough that I can do the full squat, maybe not perfectly comfortably for hours on end but could probably do a few minutes. I can also squat all the way down with my heels in the air and balance in that position, with great difficulty, for less than a minute. So, should I practice with or without those shoes?

If it matters, I'm early 40s, female, no real history of injuries or issues with the joints involved, but definitely genetically inflexible. I did gymnastics and dance as a kid and could never do the splits despite years of trying. I'm tall and it's all in my legs; my torso is actually pretty short. But there are photos of me doing this squat as a little kid, so I can't help thinking I might not have lost the ability if I'd grown up in China. My gymnastics teachers were all of the old-school mindset that your knees should never be forward of your toes e.g. when doing lunges, and I internalized that and have diligently kept my ankles at no more that 90 degrees until the last couple years when I learned that had long since been debunked. I hope I'm not too late to fix this!

Hello, I am looking for advice for how to improve tightness kn my left leg. It doesnt feel tight unless doing my middle splits or left splits, particularly if I do not square my hips. I used to dance, and had both of them lower than now, but never fully there. It just has not really gone away even after stretching for a few weeks. It‘s a different tightness than usual stretching though, it hurts and its kind of in one area. Any advice or similar experiences? I have also had a minor hyper extentsion of my left knee, but I am not sure if thats related, I was not stretching at the time very much so I do not know if it got worse after or not. Does it just need to be strengthened? I have tried a bit, but maybe not consistently enough to see a difference.

I have been told to square my hips so I tried to, the picture where I tried to is the brown pants but is it squared hips or not ?

I’ve been lifting weights and running consistently for a little over a year and I started adding in some yoga recently. I’m the least flexible/graceful person ever, but I want to (hopefully) improve that, work on my mobility, and try something new. Pretty much every beginner yoga video I try includes a LOT of downward facing dog, sustained for what feels like ages every time.

Either I’m doing it wrong or there’s something wrong with my body because it is … not working. It’s a nice stretch for about five seconds. And then my hands start slipping uncontrollably, blood rushes to my face so my head starts pounding and my vision blurs and my face starts prickling with pins and needles, and I start getting sharp, aching pains in my wrist, shoulders, and between my shoulder blades. (Not a “muscles working and stretching” kind of pain - a stabbing/cramping pain). I can’t straighten my legs either, but I do have tight hamstrings, so that’s something I’m working on.

I have very mild scoliosis, and a physical therapist told me years ago not to do high planks or side planks due to issues with my wrists and shoulders. Could that be causing this? Is it just that I’m doing it wrong? Was I not built for this? 😂

There’s something wrong with my hip flexor. I have hypermobility in my entire upper body, but my hip is so tight it’s literally insane. I do the elephant walk and other nerve flossing. I try to strength train (sitting like the position in the bottom right and lifting my legs), but I can’t even stay sitting like that without completely rounding my back.

I am not in any pain or discomfort, but I am a dancer and this limits my progress a lot rip

I've been trying to strengthen my hip flexors, with the goal of increasing my forward fold depth, and eventually my pancake.

I've heard sitting in a seated pike position, and just raising your ankle a few inches off the ground is good for that. But I immediately cramp up in my upper quad after just one or two. The thing is, I'm pretty strong otherwise. I'm a guy and regularly do weighted squats, leg presses, and other quad-heavy exercises. And even for exercises where I am weak, it manifests as not being able to do something. But this manifests as actual crampy-pain that is really hard to do more than 2 or 3, even though I feel strong enough to do more. Has anyone else experienced this and do you have any advice?

I’ve been on this stretching journey for the past few weeks, and honestly thanks to this group and all the members who keep motivating us on this journey of opening up our bodies.

My body has been really stiff for the past few years. I’ve had massages and PT sessions, and they always recommended that I should stretch regularly, but I never really took it seriously until I came across this group.

I wanted to ask something though. This morning I tried stretching just after waking up and my body was extremely stiff. I could barely stretch properly, even though when I’m at the gym I can stretch quite easily and have much better flexibility.

Is this normal in the morning? Does anyone else experience the same thing?

I been weight lifting for about half a year and i just been so stiff with constant muscle aches.

I decided to do stretches and yesterday was my first time doing a full body stretch after YEARS following a YouTube video.

Im so sore today it feels like my first day at the gym.

Is this normal? Should i be doing it everyday?

My goal is mainly to get rid of the tightness feeling in my muscles and to lower the aches.

Interested to know who uses sliders in their stretching program? Why did you start using them? Do you find they help? What programing do you run with them and how do you integrate them into your stretching program?

I often sit like this (though usually with a smaller angle) ever since childhood, so I got curious whether there's a name for it. The internet tells me it's the "W pose," but it seems to me that it looks more like the letter T.
My feet are fully flat on the floor, my knees are together, and my legs form a 90° angle.

Hi im looking for app or flexibility program that i can buy to follow along. Im beginner in flexibility subject and dont have a clue what to do so I prefer to spend money on program rather than creating my own even tho its plenty free stuff online, any suggestions?

I have always had tight hip flexors and hamstrings. I can Jefferson Curl with considerable weight but 3-4 inches past my knee I turn the move into a RDL/Jefferson hybrid. I need more flexibility to do this the right way. What is the process i should do to improve this?