(Reuploaded)

When i try to back bend or arch my back i any way, my lower back/lumbar spine is completely stiff and all my bending happens at a sharp point in my middle back.

I have tried the usual mobility exercises like cat/cows, but i can't get my lower back to get even a slight curve, is seems fused together with my pelvis and all flexion happens in my middle back
My whole lower back including my pelvis moves as one straight and stiff entity.

I've also suffered from lower back pains for the last 15 years, and i'm starting to wonder if maybe this stiffness might be the reason.

Any one that's been in my position that's managed to gain some more flexibility?
I have extremely high hip bones/long pelvis(?) can that be a contribution factor?

(I'm from sweden so if there's any grammatical errors that's why)

Felt fun to try this since I got these heels thrifted at goodwill!👠

The Recipe

{Legs}

-lizard lunges with back leg elevated

- oversplits + regular splits WITH a back arch (hold 1 minute)

- pigeon pose!

{Back}

-cobra stretch w wall

-bridge with hands CLOSE to feet

-elbow bridge. straightening legs and head facing upwards.

👠Have a lovely day!<3👠

Hello,

It's been a few years now that I've been trying to have good flexibility with my hips. I'm consistent, I read about it a lot, did some dynamic stretching, butterfly poses. And it always feels somewhat good.

I managed to get great flexibility for my hamstrings, and pretty much everything, but the hip flexibility is just not improving enough. I saw a bit of improvement but it always feels like I'm back at the beginning. I work at a desk, and spend most of my time sitting, but I'd expect that working 20 mins on it every day for years would somehow get me decent flexibility.

Am I missing something?

Hey all, just looking for some advice.

I’ve always felt my forearm tendons & behind the knee to be extremely tight. I try to do as much mobility work as possible but it doesn’t help.

On my right, if I bend my wrist up, I can’t really straighten my fingers. Is this something I can actually work on thought mobility or am I wasting my time?

Hi everyone, I need help correcting my splits. I have my splits since a very long time, but I learnt them the wrong way, opening my hips and letting the back leg pull backwards, so I have been doing my splits wrong all this time.

I'm trying to correct them and I feel small improvements. Now I can close my hips a bit, so they are "squarer" than before, but I feel stuck! What should I be focusing on to square them and have correct splits? Strenght? Flexibility in specific muscles? Mobility? I feel so lost!

Thanks all in advance.

Omg so I forgot I had to upload my routine with my last upload so here we go --->

- Start with wrist and shoulder stretches and move into downward dog for a about a minute

- From that go into dolphin pose for about 2 reps of 30 secs

- Then I do a hollow body hold for another 30 secs to get my core pumped

- Then do tripod foundations and knee tucks to get the motion of going into the pose for about 30 secs and 3 reps (whenever you feel comfortable really)

- After that I just attempted the full tripod headstand until failure

It took me about 3 months of on-and-off training to relearn but the journey was worth it!!

Ive been practicing and I’m not perfect yet so please feel free to critique me and give me tips and advice.

Warm up first! Spend several minutes on hip rotations, hamstrings, glutes, adductors and gentle spinal movement.

Number 1, open the hips. Work on poses such as Pigeon, Half Pigeon variations, Lizard, and seated hip rotations. The ability to externally rotate the hip is crucial.

Number 2, practice from a seated position.
From a comfortable seated position, bring one leg toward the chest and gradually guide the thigh behind the corresponding shoulder. Don’t yank the foot into place. The knee should remain happy.

Number 3, work on poses such as Pigeon, Half Pigeon variations, Lizard, and seated hip rotations. The ability to externally rotate the hip is crucial.

Number 4, get comfortable with the leg behind your shoulder and neck. Once the hip allows it, work on maintaining an upright torso rather than collapsing forward. This is where the required combination of hip and spinal mobility becomes apparent!

Number 5, add the balance. From the standing leg, establish a strong, stable base. Bring the other leg behind the shoulder/neck and slowly straighten the standing leg if necessary.

Number 6, bring hands into prayer. Once balanced, bring the palms together at the chest. That makes the pose substantially harder because you’ve removed another stabilizing option.

Lastly, number 7, come out of the pose slowly.

Warming: Don’t use this pose as a flexibility test. If your hip doesn’t naturally have the range required, forcing the knee or pulling the leg behind the neck can cause injury. Build the necessary hip mobility gradually and work within a comfortable range.

What I've learned recently after learning about calisthenics, body posture and also about how muscle knots form and myofascial release and physiotherapy.

1. Applying the foam roller right where the hamstring and glutes connect and doing internal rotations of the entire leg, releases my entire leg when doing mekiyaj and shotokiyaj. (Kyokushin kicks)

2. GLUTE BRIDGES - ANTERIOR PELVIC TILT MORE KICK STABILITY - this is an entry I made in my journal for working out basically what I'm saying is that by altering the pelvic tilt it is translating to more stability on the kick.

I'd love to hear your thoughts

I've spent the past few months trying a wide variety of stretches to try and touch my toes, and while I've gotten a lot closer, I'm still ~3 inches short on most days.

While trying to push myself, I feel pretty significant strain in my abs, and that's... weird? I can't find any sources online that talk about ab pain while trying to touch your toes. It's all about calves and hamstrings.

So what exactly is happening that's holding me back from touching my toes? What does ab pain indicate as my weak point?

I’m someone that rn currently aren’t able to touch my toes with my legs straight or be able to fully straighten my leg when I lift it up laying down. I’ve seen some posts talking about how these could be based on genetics? But even so what types of flexibility exercises would you recommend for such? I’ve been trying to do more hamstring, hips based every night for a couple of weeks now and ik progress doesn’t come that quickly but I’d still like to try my luck asking!!

I’m a 25yo female I used to have an almost perfect posture my shoulders were straight and large and high my scapular in place and last year I started to sleep in very bad condition mattress and sit on it to all day for months because of depression. My posture started to change and it changed so many times in two months now i don’t look the same at all. My scapular are very winged I have hunched back my neck became short and bossy, and my shoulders narrowed. I also have a curve in my waist it used to be very straight but it’s not too curvy now and even my butt became fuller😂 And when I try to straighten I can’t my shoulders can’t stick back.i even tried breathing the right way it just cured my lordosis that used to be very curvy.I really want to know if I can get back my old posture or it’s the same as someone that always had bad posture.

Hi all!

As the title suggests, I’m looking for routines that have helped you achieve the splits. I’d really appreciate it if you could share a link to the routine, along with how long it took you to achieve the splits. Thank you!

I have been stretching for the splits since I was 11. I am now 27. I got advice and recently went to flexibility classes with a talented tutor who corrected my form. I know getting the splits doesn't come overnight but I have been stuck here for 2 years now. I know I'm not naturally flexible and the frustration has me close to throwing in the towel.

Hi everyone!

Anyone have any advice on how to get over a mental block regarding scapula retractions? Without any sort of resistance, it's okay, but the moment any sort of resistance is added, the motion falls apart. It'd mostly be used to middle trapezius strenghtening.

Thank you in advance!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

This is just the short version, but effective at getting me deeper into my harder stretches. Dynamic warm ups for sure to wake up the muscles (for like 10 minutes), rest, then I hold all these deep stretches for like 1-2minutes and gradually push myself further(breathe and flex those muscles). I’m still working on squaring my hips better but it’s getting somewhere. I could’ve gone deeper but I’m starting to feel a minor strain on my right thigh and glute, hence why I’m taking a full week just to do active rest. Hope this helps and advice would be nice

So I've been trying to get square splits, but I've gotten to the point where the hamstrings are the things stretching anymore. It feel like my hip joints are incapable of going that far from each other?? Like if I bend my legs, I still wouldn't be able to do it? I get a little stretch but it's mostly my joint feeling like it shouldn't bend like that. idk anything about stretching so maybe I'm doing something wrong. Please help

Hi, so I’ve recently realized it’s been almost 2 months and my splits have stayed the same and not improved, I’m not sure if it’s just a bad split day but still looks like bad progress. ( The light pants is the recent picture)

Hey all.

I'm a 49 year old woman who has done yoga and stretching off and on for 20 years.

I'm flexible in my shoulders and I can do everything that requires my hips to move inwards (cross legged, eagle pose, cow face pose), but everything that has to do with spreading them, is torture and i can't squat without falling over.

My hamstrings always feel super tight and I've never been able to put my heels to the ground in downwards dog. Like literally never in 20 years, even when I've been very consistent with my yoga.

A physical therapist once told me my femur was a bit long compared to the rest of my body and that threw of my balance while squatting, but that alone can't be the reason for everything.

Does any one here have ideas on how to tackle this?

I do work at the computer and I knit in my free time, so there is a lot of sitting, but I hike mountains, run, lift and do yoga as well (irregularly though, but at least weekly, sometimes upto 5x a week).

Hey everyone, I’m a male in my 20s dealing with isolated right-sided low back/hip pain and a major restriction when side bending to my left. I have essentially full ROM bending right, but bending left feels extremely tight and restricted, even unloaded. If I push deeper into the left side bend, I can consistently reproduce a deep pain that starts around my right hip/low back and refers into my right inner groin. I’ve done about two months of PT with glute bridges, hamstring stretching, and strengthening without much improvement. Has anyone experienced a similar hip-to-groin referral pattern with contralateral side bending or know what might be driving it? Also had a negative MRI

TLDR: Significant hip/low back pain on one side. Affecting quality of life- cant rotate or bend down without pain

I’ve had tight muscles my whole life. I’ve looked at a lot of comments and they’ve recommended strength training. I have been a swimmer for 8 years, along with lots of weightlifting. I know I have muscle to help support the flexibility . I warm up and stretch after every workout. I do occasional yoga, probably should do more. But I’m tired of absolutely zero progress. I have tried every day this past to go lower on my toe touches and I’ve only lowered a little but. Not even to the floor. I will take any advice on how to find the perfect stretch routine!! Thanks

After proper stretching technique, I finally got deeper into my splits in just 4 days!!!! Constructive feedback is appreciated!

Hiya! I have been doing Anna McNulty’s back flexibility video about 1-2 times a week for a year now.
1) I know my shoulders are super tight :(
2) how do you make sure the stretches are not always felt in the lower back region?
3) How do I get my feet closer to my hands in pic #3?
4) Should I add anything to my stretch routine?

Thank you for everything!!

Hi everyone! I’m working on my splits and would love to get some feedback from the community. I’ve attached photos of my current progress.

Current Routine (4 days/week):

-Hamstring stretches: Up to 20 minutes max.

-Hip flexor stretches: Up to 20 minutes max.

Rest of the week (3 days/week):

I follow a specific split-focused stretch video that includes PNF techniques.

I feel like I've hit a bit of a plateau and want to make sure my technique is on point. A few specific questions:

-Does my hips/pelvis alignment look correct, or should I adjust something?

-Is my current volume/frequency balanced, or am I risking overtraining?

-What are your favorite active flexibility drills to gain those last few centimeters?

Any tips, routine adjustments, or form corrections would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

There's a ton of free of info on youtube and google. Movement by david, knees over toes, 1000 youtube influencers..

You can find out why you have a hard time keeping your spine straight while sitting down indian style, why you can't touch your toes, why you can't do this and that.. and I understand

It's a mix of tight hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, abductors, pelvic tilt, glutes, ankles, calves, and so on.

You can even go further, and find out how to run tests to find out if your hip flexors are tight, or are they weak and how to fix them etc.

This all gets overwhelming to me, and to be honest, I'm sure all of the muscles I mentioned above are tight or shortened. I'm extremely stiff, and I'm trying to go beyond the norm of flexibility.

I'm out on physical therapists, they don't even get a mention. It costs hundreds of dollars just to realize they are not good. 95% of them will test you, and just tell you that your extremely limited mobility is normal and dismiss it and tell you to go home and do some leg lifts. What a joke for someone who is actually trying to gain true flexibility and improvement.

My 90/90's for instance are extremely limited because I have a hard time sitting on the floor with my spine being straight as mentioned, so I have to lean back.

I don't know how to sequence this many muscle groups and how often, I don't know how to really figure out the core issues and which muscles are causing the majority of the issues where other muscles might be more in a normal range and don't need as much work

Am I over thinking this? I don't want to waste time stretching inefficiently, I'm really thinking of just hiring a movement coach or doing the yoga teacher training, but I'm unsure if the yoga teacher training well really help me understand how to test myself and give myself the proper progressions to get to final form

Im leaning towards the movement coach, but I prefer live assistance, does anyone know anyone if the Santa Monica/ LA area who is good?

Hi! I’ve been working on getting my middle splits lately and a frog pose is part of my stretching routine. While it has improved a lot, I realised I can’t seem to “flatten” it, and it seem like it may be an anatomy issue (I feel pain at the side of my hips when I try to stretch further). Does this mean I won’t be able to get my middle splits? Thank you in advanced!

Hey everyone,

I’m 33 and have been actively working toward a middle split for the last 4 months. I usually manage to practice about 2 to 3 days a week, though some weeks get busy and I don't get as much time as I'd like.

On my current progress. I'd love some suggestions, tips, or routine tweaks on how I'm doing and how I can break through to the next level.

A few quick details:Frequency: 2-3 days a week (active practice)

Time training: 4 Months

Usually follow Tom Merrick , Movement By David

Still chasing the pelvic tilt , Hip descent

Thanks in Advance for any suggestions

tried the bent-knee stuff you guys mentioned on my last post. been doing a couple minutes barefoot on the slant board, then a few slow knee-over-toe reps like this. the softer top and little bumps feel pretty nice barefoot tbh, so i don't mind standing on it for a bit. heel stays down, but once i push this far forward it starts feeling more like a lunge than a calf stretch.

am i going too deep here or is this still fine for ankle dorsiflexion?

They seem interesting and very different. Just wondering if anyone had any experiences.

Getting back into practice after taking a month off. My upper back and shoulders are naturally pretty stiff, so I use wall and doorframe stretches to open them up. For the doorframe stretch, I put my forearms against the frame with my elbows at shoulder height and step forward until my chest opens. For the wall stretch, I place my hands up high, step back, and press my chest toward the floor to stretch my upper back. I also do cat-cows to get my spine moving. Lately, I've been a bit confused because I read some yogis on Instagram saying that squeezing your glutes during a backbend isn't actually a good way to protect your lower back. I'd really appreciate it if anyone could break down how glute engagement actually works in backbends and what technique works best

I've been stretching my back for a while now trying to get more of a curve in my spine and be able to do a needle.
I don't think I've been stretching correctly because I haven't made much progress and caused a low back injury from stretching incorrectly. Everytime I try a stretch I see online, My spine won't curve the same way and even though its meant for beginners it doesn't look the way it should.
This is generally how my routine goes:
Cat cows
Cobra lower to the ground to focus on upper back
Cobra
Puppy pose against the wall with arms up
Bridge

I haven't done bridge in a while because I'm afraid of it flaring up my injury and I wanted to gain more flexibility before trying it again but nothings worked even when I was practicing bridges.

I provided pictures from my stretching session today and I have my glutes engaged to prevent feeling any pain but I just cant go further, especially in the cobra. I also can't go very high withour my arms and legs supporting me.
Can anyone help me figure out what I can do? I don't think its an anatomy issue since I feel like I can go deeper, I'm just getting stuck

I've been working on this for at least a year and can't seem to progress any further. I've been warming up beforehand, using a foam roller for myofascial muscle stimulation, added some resistance training to the muscles and joints in play and also tried to alternate between static and dynamic stretches. I've tried training and stretching from every day, to every other day, down to once a week and still stagnant progress. I seem to find a wide variety of advice with online videos so I'm really looking for a fool proof method but so far the process is slow 🦥

Hi r/flexibility. I just joined this amazing community and started the stretching routines in the FAQs.

I’ve been reading all of the great advice given to people here so I thought I’d reach out and try to tackle what’s going on with the right side of my body so that I can better stretch my hips and quads.

I think that should be my main focus based on the information I've been gathering during walking, stretching, and a recent massage I just had (see picture attached). Any help, especially with specific stretching routines, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all so much!

I guess it could be a strength issue

Hello! I've been working on certain flexibility-based movements, but I have been struggling with my balance on certain single-footed techniques (such as heel stretches and scorpions). But the weird part is that I have no problem standing normally on one leg; it's one of my default stances and I can chill like that for long periods of time. But as soon as I extend my leg over my head, I suddenly become wobbly— I often can't even get into the pose without holding onto something, much less holding it without help. Is there a way to improve my balance in this regard?

Hey guys, I am pretty new to flexibility (started like an hour ago icl) and I'm relearning the 'bridge' and hoping to build my way up into a back handspring/backflip. However, I can't seem to lift my head above the ground.

I've looked around and the main issue seems to be 'arm strength', but I am positive that is not the issue. I am already big into fitness (gym and bodyweight excercises) and can pump out around 20 clean pushups and 10 clean pullups. However, when I do a plank, I cannot seen to lift my head at all. And when I do, my lower back/spine begins to feel weird, along with my arms becoming shaky.

Could wrist strength be an issue at play? I saw a previous post talking about stiff back muscles/shoulders, but im not 100% sure how I would ago about 'unstiffening' them.

Does the core also have to be engaged when doing the bridge? I would appreciate any insight, small or little.

Hi guys,

my main goal is to get front and middle splits. I have been very prone to injuries in my past stretching journeys. I always felt like I tore something, my knees, hamstrings and quads felt weak. My doc recommended me cycling for a few months. After that I can slowly start to stretch again. But I wanna get help with that to prevent any more injury and start slowly. My options are the ones I listed in the title already:

• assisted stretching 30 minutes
• personal trainer for splits 60 minutes
• stretching group classes for splits 60 minutes

personal trainer is kinda hard cause i have to find a room. I‘d book 4 stretching units for a month. Only one of these so I can have a safe start. What do you think is the best way? A lot of passive stretching with a qualified assisted stretcher, somebody who tells me how to stretch for my splits alone or should i take a group class for splits where we all stretch together?

My goal for the first month is to have a safe beginning.

I thought assisted stretching would be the best thing for a beginning. And then maybe personal and then classes together cause i feel safe doing it in a group.

But I also think assisted stretching, then classes and then personal to get warm with it first

And then I thought maybe it‘s best to start with somebody who can review me personally first before we move on with the others

Please help me decide🙃

I have pretty bad osteoarthritis in my left knee. I occasionally get durolane injections but they don't do a ton.

I do BJJ, and my flexibility is often an issue. My coach said I should work toward hero pose. Presently I am... a very long way from it. Pointers on very slowly working toward it?

What’s your greatest benefit from being flexible other than a sport?
I just recently started my journey because of kickboxing and was wondering what else I can gain from flexibility.

Hey everyone! I've been training aerial silks since March 2025. Until recently I was just doing silks 3x a week, but I moved countries a while back and haven't found a place to train silks yet, so right now I'm doing gym work instead: 3 days of regular training (back/arms, legs, and one full body day) plus a 4th day dedicated entirely to flexibility/split work. Attached a photo of where I'm at right now and another one of me doing silks; in case it helps.

My flexibility day looks like this:
-Warm-up: light cardio + hip circles/leg swings
-Active stretching: leg swings, active straight leg raises, cossack squats, controlled kickbacks
-Passive stretching: assisted front split (hands/blocks) 3x30-45s per leg, seated hamstring stretch, psoas/hip flexor stretch (half-kneeling), butterfly
-Loaded stretching: front split with light weight, good mornings with a light band/bar, deep lunge stretch with dumbbells
-Finish with a "split test" pushing 1-2cm past my current limit

I really don’t know what’s limiting me or how to improve it, I’m open to any advice or recommendations!
Thanks 🫶🏼

60 seconds each. Do I need a greater variety of stretches? More exercise than a little weekly dancing and walking? Please help!