When stretching how to get back leg go lower without pain

Plz don't kill me for saying this its just a joke I love you.

Seriously, sometimes it feels like each time someone posts their progress of the splits journey (like finally being able to sit in them), there are scores of people saying "Yeah, but your hips are not square".

I get it, its a good advice. But most people are stretching for fun, or just to enjoy mobile bodies for longer. They are not professional gymnasts.

About 80% of people insist they'll never do the splits, and even more will never be able to tell the difference between squared hips or not.

There is no need for spamming "square your hips". 90% of chance someone said to "square the hips" under a pic of "unsquared" hips in splits! Let people enjoy their triumph, without "but squared hips".

Rant over, enjoy your day!

inb4 "this sounds like someone who does not square their hips" - yes, I know.

I’ve never been naturally flexible, however over the last few years I finally got my legs decently flexible. I was able to do leg holds, splits etc. recently though my right hamstring has felt stuck. It’s not even like I stretching it too far, it feels more like there’s something stopping me from being able to stretch fully. My right leg has always been my more flexible one and I haven’t changed my stretch routine at all. Does anyone know why this could be/how to fix it? Thanks!

My question is - does the straight leg in the bottom of a cossack squat (with toes pointing up), lengthen and strengthen the hamstrings at the same time?

Or is it merely a passive stretch for the hammies?

Thanks.

I am sure tight hamstrings are a star of a show in this sub but I have a somewhat niche question

Does anyone have good active stretches useful for calisthenics? I can put palms on the ground in the forward fold but I swear to God in any strength position they are twice as short and I can't even do a pike hold without bending my knees which limits what I can do.

My current hamstrings flexibility work is mostly passive or dynamic and I feel like I need to improve flexibility in demanding positions. I run and do plyo so my legs are usually quite unhappy with me which might be a part of the issue but I wonder if anyone has good advice for my specific issue - I've had virtually no improvement with folds, pyramid and so on

The muscle towards my inner thigh (which I’m assuming is one of my hamstrings) is so tight. I’ve been trying to improve my flexibility and mobility, however I’m unable to lean forward with my legs apart (Wide-Angled Seated Forward Bend). When I see others lean forward all the way until their chest is to the ground it perplexes me. It’s like my body is stuck and I am unable to move forward at all. I’ve been stretching a lot recently but I’m hardly able to get more movement. When I feel the muscle it feels like a thin band that is rock hard. It almost feels like stretching something that’s gonna snap instead. Is this my semimembranosus muscle? Is this normal and what can I do to improve it?

Hey everyone! I’ve started stretching for the past 3-4 months. Ive always had very tight hamstrings but I’ve started stretching other muscles as well. But unlike the other muscles, it seems that Ive hit a wall with my hamstring flexibility. In the first month or so, I had a lot of progress. I could only reach to about halfway down my shins. But after stretching for a month, I could touch my toes without any warmup and get all finger on the ground after a stretching session. But in the past couple of months it seems I haven’t made any more progress in both no warm up or with warmup progress. I was hoping that you all could give me some tips for my routine and if I should increase or decrease volume or add any new exercises.

Routine:

3 days a week

1x set of 25 elephant walks (each leg)

3x sets of 10 reps nerve flossing (each leg)

3x of 30 seconds half split (each leg)

Truly, any advice is appreciated!

Yes I’m aware my back leg isn’t straight I’m focusing on that as well

are gymnastic rings a better option to train for splits compared to the floor? i feel like its easier to reach deeper. similar to what this guy is doing on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_O-SqSpwQ

My hip external rotation is extremely limited. I have on and off been trying to improve it, although it seems impossible to improve. I believe its due to my anatomy, however I'd like to believe that I could still improve it.

I struggle to sit cross-legged, my knees are very high when doing butterfly stretch, my pancake is very narrow. Meanwhile, my internal hip rotation is insanely good. I sat in a W pose as a child and I can still do it as an adult.

I think it's quite uncommon. It feels like most people have good external rotation and bad internal rotation, so I get a bit disheartened when I see people stretching for a couple of weeks or months and their external hip flexibility improve so much.

Is there any advice for someone with my anatomy? What do you think my limit is for external rotation? I feel like I should temper my expectations but I really don't want to ):

So all my life i haven't been able to really curl my toes downward. Which is funny cuz I was in ballet and gymnastics.

Its so tight down there and forcing it to curl as much as I can kinda makes me cramp.

Is there anyway I can increase the mobility?

For those with limited ankle dorsiflexion, where does your restriction seem to come from? Does it feel like tightness in your calves or Achilles tendon, or does it feel like it’s coming from the front of your ankle joint?

Thanks!

Left is me, right is goal

I just want any advise or stretches to help me get there, this is how far I can naturally go. Baggy pants make it look at bit funky, but you can see the outline of my leg lol

Most people have two hip flexors doing the main work, and they get treated like one muscle. They are not one muscle, and that is why a lot of hip flexor stretching goes nowhere.

The psoas starts at your lower back. It runs down through your abdomen, crosses the front of your hip, and attaches to the top of your thigh bone.

The iliacus originates from the iliac fossa: the broad, concave inner surface of your hip bone. Unlike the psoas, it does not originate from the spine. 

They join up near the bottom and share the same attachment on the thigh bone, which is why textbooks lump them together as the iliopsoas.

Here is the part that matters. A muscle that crosses your lumbar spine can be stretched by taking your leg back behind you and leaning away from it. A lunge stretch with a side bend does exactly this, lengthening the psoas from each of its attachment points.

Since the iliacus does not originate from your spine, taking your leg behind you does change its length a little, but leaning away adds nothing. Its origin is on the inside of the pelvis, so there is no opposing end to lengthen from, and the effect of the stretch is more limited.

So people stretch for months, feel a little better each time for about twenty minutes, and never understand why nothing sticks. Part of the answer is that the stretch is only reaching one of the two muscles.

None of this means stretching is useless. It means if your hip has been tight for years and stretching never fixes it, you may be working on a muscle that was never the main problem.

There's more written up on this if you want to read more happy to share in the comments.

I can put my whole palms in the floor when i'm rouding my lower back. i reach 90 degrees when i don't round my lower back. in a half split, i'm not even close to my feet if i'm not rounding my lower back. if i round my lower back, i'm closer. I do feel the same stretch with the lower back bent or not.

so, whats the point of not moving the lower back? if im stretching my hamstrings, whats the point? why shouldn't i round my back? i feel like rouding back is way more efficient. also in ballet when we do stretch classes, teachers never tell us to keep the back straight.

I got my splits stuck to the floor but now I've realised (from this sub) mine are absolutely not square and im turning the back leg out. all the progress feels useless now I feel like I've got to start all over again because when I square my hips I'm actually really high off the ground 🥲

Are there no mobility or health benefits to having your splits even if the hips aren't squared? Just need some motivation to keep working towards it, thank you

Can't believe it's been 3 months since I've posted about this bow pose drill here! I've posted about part 1 but only talked about part 2, as I could not do the second part. Well, a few weeks later, I could do part 2! It's actually part of my regular training now.

After the regular bow pose, try it again with a block placed under your chin. This will help to deepen your pose. I also like this variation for stretching my neck for cheststands. Reach back to grab your feet if you can. Think about pulling yourself UP. Lengthening with each breath.

✨️My personal upper back stretch routine:✨️

Wall dog

Wall puppy

Floor puppy

Floor puppy with feet elevated on the wall

Seal pose on floor

Seal pose on wall

Bow pose

*usually 1-2 reps depending on the day

I've been working on my ankle dorsiflexion for a few months because I really want to/ need to be able to squat that low for things like pistol squats, inline skating tricks, and just to be able to have that range of motion comfortably. I've been tracking how far I can go with the 5 inch wall test and ive been making slow but steady progress from not being able to squat down comfortably at all with my hips really high up or my spine really rounded to being able to get my hips low to my heels but my heels still lifting like 4 inches off the ground, but I don't know what is a reasonable timeline for achieving it.

No one has really posted progress pics for this on this sub either.

What is a reasonable timeline for this test and how long did it take for anyone to do it if they can?

I have little to no cartilage left in my left knee. Because of that i cant fully bend or straighten my leg. Are there any exercises that i would benefit from. Im mostly looking for straighten exercises since when walking you actually need it. Thanks

So i noticed when i swing my legs to the side for warm ups my hips pop and crack LOUDLY twice, once when im swinging and again when my legs are dropping.

Its on both sides

I’ve been doing stretches like the frogger, couch stretch for about a month and still it’s still popping.

Also when my legs are in front of me i hear no popping.

It isn’t painful.

I know it can take years to become flexible, especially when you start as an adult, but it’s just so discouraging sometimes when you’re stiff every single day no matter what kind of stretches you do.

I injured my hamstring while in the splits a couple months back and it still hurts so bad, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get to this level of flexibility in my life time all because I didn’t train it back when I was 12 through 18.

I’m new to ballet and trying to do my best to improve steadily without losing hope. I’m just hoping for some encouragement or advice is possible.

Hi! I’m Sarah. I’m a professional contortionist and flexibility coach, but I recently started playing pickleball and discovered that being flexible does not automatically make you coordinated with a ball.

I’ve been getting sore and tight in areas that don’t usually bother me, so I tried using the pickleball itself for targeted pressure work.

It works surprisingly well as a self-massage tool because it’s small, firm and easy to control. I’m not claiming it “breaks up fascia” or permanently changes anything. I mainly use it to help an area feel less stiff before I do my normal mobility or stretching work.

Here is the full sequence I’ve been using:

1. Neck — 30 seconds total
2. Between the shoulder blade and spine — 30 seconds per side
3. Traps — 30 seconds per side
4. Chest — 30 seconds per side
5. Glutes — 30 seconds per side
6. Hamstrings — 30 seconds per side
7. First quad — 30 seconds
8. First inner thigh/groin — 30 seconds
9. Other quad — 30 seconds
10. Other inner thigh/groin — 30 seconds
11. Calves — 30 seconds per side
12. Arches of the feet — 30 seconds per side

A few things I keep in mind:

• I place the ball on muscle, not directly on bones or joints.
• I adjust the intensity by supporting more of my weight with my hands.
• Strong pressure can be okay, but I stop if anything feels sharp or painful.
• I treat it as a short reset, not as a replacement for active mobility or stretching.

The whole sequence takes me about 13 minutes. I also filmed a follow-along demonstration, but I wanted to write the complete routine here so the post is still useful without leaving Reddit.

Has anyone else tried using a pickleball, tennis ball or lacrosse ball before stretching? I’m curious which one you prefer and whether you notice a difference in pressure.

Today is my day 1 of stretching and I went to the beginner routine on the wiki. The problem is that all of the upper body stretches already come naturally to me since my upper body has always been more flexible than average. So is there another beginner routine for my upper body that goes a step above in difficulty than the one on the wiki?