I have my splits flat, and my splits are relatively square (on my right side, still working to square them more though) but I noticed that my hip on the back leg doesn’t go down! There is still a gap between my back hip and the floor.

Any ways I can close that gap to have my back leg REALLY flat on the floor?

Stretches, etc.

hello everyone! i am 23 and i work at a office job where i sit all day. i was previously diagnosed with lumbar lordosis, and i recently started running to change my sedentary life style.

i also wanted to stretch because i am not flexible AT ALL and i can feel my muscles getting tightened due to sitting all day. however i had this pain on the left part of my neck and cracking sounds when i move my left shoulder. so i went to my doctor, he asked if i have weakness/numbness in my hands and i said no. he told me to go ahead with the exercises and i would benefit from them.

yesterday, i started stretching using the video "starting to stretch" shared to this subreddit. but i think i did something wrong :/ i had no problems (no pain, no aching) on the right side of my body but during the "rear hand clasp" i felt tingling in my right hand, as it was on top holding the towel. i think i damaged some nerves and i can't visit the doctor for another few days because im out of town :( i woke up last night because my hand went numb (this happens somewhat frequently btw) my hand doesn't hurt or isn't numb right now but certainly feels weird! i can't hold my arm up as long as i normally can, so some degree of weakness is present.

is there anything i can do until i can see the doctor again? i was already sad about my diagnosis (lumbar lordosis) and how i live a sedentary life so i wanted to do something to change it. now i am really anxious that i hurt myself real bad. did anyone else hurt themselves while starting or along the way? i really want to be healthy and be able to stretch.

Hello, one thing that is worrying me and discouraging me is that any type of stretching, from 3 to 5 minutes, does not change: difficulty in stretching the leg when the knee is already raised.

When I bring the leg off the floor already stretched, it is gentler, but it always reaches the same limit and nothing changes. I got to a point where I put my fingers on the floor and without warming up when bending forward with my knees stretched, but my palms only when I stretch and the next day I go back to the tips of my fingers.

I dedicate myself a lot so that nothing changes and this demotivates me.

I know and have read about the difficulties of having a side split because of the fitting of the femur bone in the hip (it will be difficult for me to know if I can do it, because I get the same thing), but a front split would make me very happy, but my hamstrings do not change and do not allow anything.

I've done everything, dynamic stretching, active stretching, PNF, nerve gliding, strength.

Oh, look how cool it is about strength: pistol squat is one that I train, today I can go down and come back up without any support and that motivates me! I've also improved a lot with nordic curls, I can go down in a controlled manner, hold on, I need to go up, and that directly strengthens the hamstrings, so it's not strength. I'll keep doing strength exercises, because I see small improvements.

The feeling I have is that I've reached a point and there's some blockage (some muscle that I can't stretch while holding on?)

Yes, I'm 43 years old, I do capoeira sporadically and I play soccer. I'm not sedentary at all!

I'd be grateful if anyone has anything else to share!

Thank you!

Hi everyone (26F). I just wanted to know, especially from the ladies, if your sex life has improved due to improved flexibility and if yes, how?

Hello everyone!

So to get right to it, I've had a tightness in the upper left side of my body for about 1-2 years now, including my upper left arm, the very left side of my chest (think like the pectoral muscle right next to your left armpit) and sometimes my neck and jaw. The tightness is usually always present, in some rare cases it goes away, and sometimes it gets worse with exercise (not always).

I know your first reaction: no it's not a heart problem. I'm a 21 year old man who's admittedly fairly overweight, however I have been to a cardiologist who examined me with an EKG and Echocardiogram, along with a 7 day holter where in every test they found nothing, and these tests are from 6 months ago.

The most likely conclusion everyone has told me has been anxiety, the thing they slap onto every problem they can't properly diagnose... but I want some opinions on this, maybe anyone who's had a similar experience? If anyone has anything to share related to this please feel free to share! I need all the help I can get.

I did ballet growing up. I was always the most unflexible in the class- even when I’d been dancing for 7 years. I just couldn’t bother to stretch because I hated the feeling. Anything involving my hips, back, etc was ok but I dreaded stretching my hamstrings. With everything else the stretch felt like something I could push into (if that makes sense) like a massage but touching my toes felt like hitting a brick wall.

Found out today not everyone has that stinging itch behind their knees when they stretch. Another thing- apparently people feel the hamstring stretch on like the back of their thighs?? This is insane to me. Not really sure what to do with this information now. I’ve had this feeling my whole life and assumed it was normal.

Tbh I’m panicking writing this. If anyone has any explanation or advice I’m very grateful.

Are my knees facing the correct direction or is this more straddle?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl4oYkughzs

According to LivinLeggings, these are the only 3 stretches I need. How accurate is this?

My ankle movement is incredibily bad, i can barely reach the on of tmy foot with my knee before the heel lifts itself up, thats the main thing i want to fix because otherwise i cannot squat.
I decided to follow this video because i think its a pretty reliable source for flexibility, but i dont really feel any pain even if i hold these exercises for about 40 seconds, i wight 84kg and im 1 almost 1.90m (im also 16 so it should be a good time to fix these issues before i start getting "old").
Antoher thing which could be useful to understand my "case", since i can remember i've always got up stairs with my calf tighten and tiptoe, sometimes i also do calf raises when im bored and i have a very easy time lifting myself up for more then 25 clean reps (slow down, fast up) with a single calf so i dont think strenght is the problem, do y'all have other tips or do i just stick with this video for a couple of weeks and wait for the results?

When I go into a butterfly, I'm blocked but it's not a stretching block, it feels like a mechanical block.

If I force it to the ground (which is possible with arm power) I get a weird somewhat sharp pain right above my tailbone.

Obviously it sounds like I should just not to do that and I'm always stopping before that pain but does anyone know what could be causing it?

Please help me figure this out. I’m one month into my practice and I have come so far. I am making so much progress with my leg and hip flexibility and I have hypermobile shoulders. But my back flexibility is non existent. I’ve been working on cobra, bow pose, and all sorts of back excercises but I’ve made zero progress as far as depth of any sort of back flexibility exercise. Looking at my picture of me going as far as I can, what is my issue? I look so incredibly dumb and I don’t know why I look so awkward in these poses

I have really tight shoulders and I struggle with even really wide shoulder dislocates, I’ve tried some stretches for overhead mobility but I’ve not been consistent (and I haven’t been doing them for that long), also I sometimes get cramps when doing some of the stretches

I have horrible knees, they don't hyperextend AT ALL. I know hyperextension can be bad for you, but is there a way to safely get more hyperextended knees? I have hyperextensiok everywhere else , elbows, ankles, wrists, fingers but not knees.

I’m having trouble with putting the foot behind me in a position that is comfortable. A lot of photos have people positioning it with the base facing up, but the top of the foot resting downwards is very painful for me. With the way that I am currently trying it, I have the top side facing down, my toes pressed on the ground with the pinky side of the foot also on the ground. The bridge of my foot is off the ground otherwise it hurts, however I can’t get into a better position like this.

Hey, I lost 50kg the last 2 years and am regularly (4 to 5 times a week) working out. Mostly resistance training. Since my schedule changed I am no longer able to do my post workout stretching, else I would need to cut training which i don't want. Would it get me the same benefits if I do like a 20 mins stretching routine in the morning or evening?

I have cerebral palsy and frequently use a power wheelchair for my mobility needs. One thing that really helps my flexibility lately is a wall-mounted pull up bar that I recently had installed in my bedroom, although I'm nowhere near strong to actually do a pull up on it. I use it to have something firm and stable to grab to stand and to do a full body stretch at an angle, using my body weight to force my body to fully extend, specifically my lower back. Far safer than using my fingertips on the top of a door frame.

However, after the bar was installed and I fully extended, I felt what felt like either something popping into place or a very seized muscle in the small of my back, or just below it. The pain was so intense (but fairly brief) that I nearly lost my grip on the bars in shock and pain.

It's happened twice, so I tend to discount the idea that it's a joint popping back into place.

Hi there all! Apologies for the question, but recently I've been trying to work on my straddle pancake and I'm wondering if I should be focusing more on getting my chest lower to the ground or widening the angle of my legs first. I've been trying to do both simultaneously, but I'm thinking it might be better to focus on one goal over two.

Hi everybody! I’m seeing so many of you here sharing your stories of your devotion to working on your flexibility goals. I read that loads of you stretch every day. How??? If I stretch one day, my body hurts the day after to a point where the ROM without pain is nonexistent. Share your tips please!

This is nothing for me i just wanted to post something as an example to see if this is any good for M(20). Ive always been above average flexible but ive kind of always been interested in being a contortionist as someone whose so flexible. I can walk on my hands with both my legs around my neck or almost anything really. But i dont know how to get better than this as i feel this is already very good but i have 0 training this is just my natural body.

I've been athletic my whole life, recently started to explore yoga and stretching with greater intention.

My main goals are middle splits and pancake with forearms touching the ground.

Of these goals, the pancake feels the hardest for me to get into. Despite having a pretty good start on middle splits, when seated I really struggle to spread my legs into pancake. It also feels impossible to lean forward without bending my upper back.

My main question here is what does it feel like when you get more advanced in this position? Do you have to actively pull your legs open with the abductors/glutes? That's what it feels like for me now.

Any favorite exercises for working these two? Should I place a focus on abductor strength?

Thanks for any tips!

EDIT:

Thank you all so much for the amazing insights!! This has all been incredibly helpful! I've picked up yoga blocks so I can better adjust my hip and pelvis angle, and after trying them out last night I could keep my back straight and open my legs fairly wide without feeling having to contract my glutes super hard. The stretch was felt in my adductors and throughout my back.

Cheers to being such a fantastic community! You've all given me so much hope that these goals are possible

One thing I decided to bring from the gym to my stretches, is active effort in improving my mind muscle connection. I don’t see it being talked about often here, so I wanted to hear your thoughts on this.

Recently I started putting active psychological effort into isolating which muscles should be relaxed, which muscles should be offering resistance, and which ones to contract during active stretching. And I need to say: it was not easy. The discomfort that the stretch itself creates is like a non rhythmic noise bothering you during an exam at school. But it was worth it. In a few days I not only feel like, but was able to see progress, all while seeing a pain that I used to feel at the back of my knee disappear. Here’s a pros and cons list I can think of:

Pros

• Less probability of injury. The better you are able to feel and change which muscle is receiving the tension, the more likely is to not get injured;
• Less pain. I noticed during the stretches the amount of pain I was feeling was reducing considerably the more I was able to choose which muscles would do what;
• Increased results. I’ve been doing this active effort for around 3-4 days and I’am already able to see an increase pace in evolution.

Cons

• Psychologically taxing. You have to shutdown the storm and be zen to be able to achieve this level of control. All while enduring the stretch discomforting pain;
• It may be dangerous to do without a clear mind. Imagine contracting the wrong muscle or at a wrong intensity? Just terrible

The first con I believe will go away with time, as the movements become more natural. I would love to read your opinions and experiences so we can all be able to improve ourselves!

Been working on my bridge for a while and finally made some progress today!

To a certain extend I’m naturally flexible.

Exercises that I have been focusing lately for my hip flexors and shoulders/mid back:

-hip thrust or glute bride

• seated row

Due to psychological issues, my minds is in a constant state of fight or flight. As a result my body tenses up and I have tremendous tension in the upper traps. This leads to pain and headaches (Arnold nevralgia).

I don't know yet how to address the underlying psychological issues. In the meantime, how can I make my upper traps stop tensing up?

Basically what the title says,

The burns on the left side of my left leg right where it connects to my hip.

I can do knee to chest stretch fine on my right leg, I can sit fine and do other stretches but this one's causing a burn and I'm wondering if I should stop doing it on that leg or do something else besides walking as a light warm-up before hand?