I'm interested in these two articles
Pre-workout stretching
Training to increase flexibility


Can't wait to read them: for now I stick to t his until I can read what you have http://trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flexibility

Lol.

I'm glad people are so interested. I feel terrible, I keep saying they will come in a few months and it's been like a year.

I've been going through some rough stuff lately... this is pretty far down on my priority list. That said... maybe over winter break?

I *do* want to get them done but as anyone who has read my recent training log entries knows... I've been kind of holding myself to a (ridiculous) superhuman schedule lately.

Thanks for your interest, though. I'm glad people are looking forward to them! And I appreciate the occasional "nudges" to action, so don't worry. I'm glad you posted.

(Double post oh no!)

So let's conduct a thought experiment wherein a guy named ilE wanted to do the side splits.  What might be the best way of stretching for this?  Seated butterflies?  Standing with the legs apart?  Seated with the legs apart?

Chris has great advice, as always. In addition to hamstring flexibility (which you will need to keep your spine properly aligned in the side splits and the stretches leading up to it, so you can get the most gains), here are a couple of other suggestions that I'm only recommending because you already seem to have good body awareness and a good head on your shoulders with regard to training (i.e. you are not about to go hog wild and hurt yourself with these stretches).

Note to others: these stretches are pretty "advanced" (for lack of a better word). They put quite a strain on your body and I don't recommend them for everyone. If you try these, listen to your body, scale back if you need to, and STOP if anything pulls/hurts.

Make sure you are warm before doing these. I also recommend doing these after you have done some basic hip-opening stretches like butterfly, seated straddle, etc.

1. Supine straddle: lie on your back on a bed that is up against a wall. Scoot your butt up against the wall and put your legs against the wall so your body is making an "L". Relax, breathe deeply, and let your legs slide apart into a V. They will stop when they are at their limit. Breathe, relaxing into the stretch, letting gravity take over and letting your legs give in to gravity as your muscles relax and release.

If you feel any twisting in the knee, or tightness/pain in the hip sockets, either adjust the rotation of the leg, or stop the stretch all together depending on the sensations you feel. Listen to your body.

Hold the stretch for at least a full minute. I had a (hardcore, BAMF-type) dance teacher who had us do this for 30 minutes a day, but I'm not sure that was too wise. Those with more knowledge than I can tell you how long is a good idea to sit in the stretch.

To come out, use your hands to help draw your legs back together. When they are together, bend the knees towards the chest and roll over onto your side.

2. Trestle stretch: get on all fours on the floor. Make sure your thighs are directly under your hips, so your body is at right angles like a table. Spine is neutral, core is engaged to support the torso, spine is long.

Slowly spread your knees apart from one another, letting your pelvis get very heavy, drawing towards the floor. You may have to go down to your elbows to keep your body level.

Your legs will stop spreading when they are at their limit. Breathe, relax, let gravity help you.

3. Frog stretch: From trestle stretch, walk the hands forward until you can comfortably lie down on your belly on the floor with your legs still spread apart. Very carefully, draw your feet together as closely as they will allow, so your legs are making a diamond on the floor. Be very mindful of the knees on this one and adjust as necessary. The goal is to get the legs totally flat on the floor in the diamond shape, with the soles of the feet together.

4. Supine one-legged side stretch: On your back, with spine neutral, core engaged, put your feet on the floor with your knees bent. Bring one knee in to the chest and slowly straighten the leg, as straight as it's willing to go. You may need to use a strap around your heel to hold your leg in place. Let the bent leg drop to the side (as a counterbalance) as the straight leg also opens up to the side. Breathe, relax, stretch. Repeat on the other leg.

5. Wall straddle: Sit in a straddle with your heels against a wall. Scoot forward slightly, just beyond what's comfortable but not to where you're hurting yourself. Breathe, letting the wall help you. Take care to be sure your knees are in line with the center line of the leg, over the middle toes, and there isn't any torquing or twisting. As your muscles relax, continue to scoot towards the wall a bit more, using your hands to push, to try to increase the ROM.

6. Progression to side split: Using a heavy chair or other stable object for support, stand on the floor and slide into a side split (wherever yours happens to be), resting your hands on the chair to help support your weight. You may also want to hang onto an overhead bar instead. The point is to keep a portion of your bodyweight off your legs, but still allowing some weight so that you can increase your stretch. Over time, you want the distance between your legs/pelvis and the floor to decrease until you are in a full side split.

7. Standing side split stretch: Holding on to a countertop or other stable surface for balance, stand with your heels together, legs outwardly rotated from the hip to their natural limit. Be sure you are not twisting your feet beyond the rotation of your thighs/hips. Knees should be directly over middle toes. You should be in ballet first position. Bend the knees slightly, keeping the torso erect. Lift one leg, maintaining the outward rotation and the bent knee. Reach down and grab the inside of the heel with your hand, and stand up. Lift the knee to the side as high as you can, keeping the working knee bent (standing leg is straight). Use your hand to help pull the foot up and, consequently, the knee.

Be mindful of the rotation of the standing leg. Make sure you are not bending or twisting that leg. Keep the glutes engaged to stabilize the pelvis and protect the knee.

As you gain more flexibility, gradually work towards straightening the leg. You may find it easier to hook the arm under the hamstring of the working leg, pulling the thigh in towards the torso, and the knee towards the armpit, before straightening the leg.

Pelvis should be dropped, lower back long, and lower core very engaged in this stretch to stabilize the pelvis and ensure proper alignment for the stretch, so that you are stretching the right things to get into a split. Otherwise you are working against yourself.

Kind of what these little dudes are doing starting at about 0:30 is the end product you're working for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1cqS8W45sY

Here is more, to help with general hamstring flexibility and front splits (kind of basic but it's a good starting point). If you can get these, then the side splits are just a matter of hip opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8D7R8QxJL4

The biggest key is the alignment of the back and pelvis. The lumbar curve should be preserved. Very often in seated stretches people tuck the pelvis, curving the lumbar out and back. This ends up stretching pretty much nothing; although for most people this is a result of a lack of hamstring flexibility.

I hope that helps you for now. I would love to do a full-on article with pictures and video, because for these stretches the alignment is so important.

All in due time. I need to win the lottery so I can quit my jobs and just train myself and others full-time, and collaborate and write articles!



Good luck! And thanks for your patience.

Awesome, Muse!  I can't believe I never read this article before, some excellent information in there.

BTW, your links to yogajournal are broken...a quick google let me find all the poses you referred to, but yeah :-)

Stretching has always been a big part of my life (yoga more recently), and I read this article in preparation for a 'stretching for parkour' video I'm planning to make soon.

I can't wait for the rest of the articles!  You're awesome, muse...

Any chance you got something in the works for en pointe exercises?

How do you stretch your traps?  I feel like the only way to get it done is by stretching the neck, but are there other ways?

^^ That one is good, although it usually gets me between the shoulderblades only, but maybe my form is not correct.

I usually stretch my traps by tilting my head to one side and then gently pressing the opposite shoulder down (e.g. left ear towards left shoulder, press right shoulder down). You can use your opposite hand to encourage the shoulder down gently if you like, it's best if you place your hand at the outer part of the collarbone rather than on the deltoid--better on the shoulder joint.

For a deeper stretch, you can sit in a chair. Check your posture to make sure your spine is correctly aligned and you are sitting tall. Grasp the right edge of the seat with your right hand. Lift your body tall and open the chest slightly, then gently tilt your head to the left.

Once you are in either of these stretches, with your alignment correct, you can shift the stretch a bit by keeping your head tilted to the side, and gently rotating your head so your nose is pointing down towards your hand on that same side. This will move the stretch to the back part of the muscle.

You can finish up by bringing your head back to center, then opening the chest slightly and dropping the chin towards the chest. This will get both sides in the back of the muscle and up the neck. Let gravity do the stretch for you, don't strain. If you wish to deepen the stretch, clasp your hands behind your head and let your elbows drop down towards the ground. Do NOT pull with your hands!!! Simply let gravity tug at your elbows, which should be sufficient to deepen the stretch at your neck. Be sure to keep the rest of the spine long, taking care not to hunch the back, as this will move the stretch further down your back and could strain the neck.

Hope that helps!

Generally static stretching before a workout hinders your explosive ability. Also stretching without being fully warmed up is courting injury.

The stretches described in my first article (as the article mentions) are designed for *after* a full training session, to calm the muscles and potentially reduce soreness.

The article was designed to provide a program for people who aren't sure which stretches to do for which muscles. But it's certainly not the be-all end-all of stretching. As mentioned in the article, I'm not a physical trainer or trained in physiology/anatomy. I'm a retired professional ballet dancer and yoga enthusiast who is familiar with many stretching techniques through practice. So take the information with a grain of salt.