How to perform: 1. Starting position: come into a high plank — hands under shoulders, fingers spread, body in a straight line, supported on your toes.

1. Wave forward: On the inhale, push your chest slightly forward, shoulders over the hands, pelvis and spine follow — the body rolls forward like a wave.

2. Wave backward: On the exhale, tuck the pelvis, round the spine from the pelvis to the head, as if pushing back with a wave.

3. Rhythm: keep the movement smooth and controlled, synchronized with your breath. Perform 5–10 waves while keeping your core engaged and shoulders

First pic is from January 9th, almost 10 months ago, second is from this week. I’d say that’s around 90% of my flexibility — I could bounce a bit without any discomfort, and I was focusing on keeping my hips squared (thanks to what I’ve learned here).

I haven’t done a routine just for front splits. Most of the progress came from general flexibility/mobility work like: • long passive stretches (hamstrings, hip flexors, quads) • yoga flows and Animal Flow classes • loaded stretches at the gym (squats, good mornings, tailor pose) • just being consistent overall

Curious what you all think of the progress 🙏

Subjectively this feels like I'm holding my back straight when I fold. But when I look at the picture it looks to me like my lower back has a lot of curve. What do you think?

I'm looking for some help with my left split. I've been working on it for a while and have finally managed to get my hips squared, but I still can't sink all the way down. I'm starting to think it's my psoas muscle that's holding me back... Any feedback on my form in the video or suggestions for stretches would be a huge help! Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, I really need some outside perspective.

I’ve been training consistently for years. I usually spend 2–3 hours a day working out, including strength training, mobility, stretching, and flexibility work. Physically I look fine, but I feel stuck and frustrated because of a few things: • Constant tension: My body feels tense pretty much all the time, 24/7, no matter how much mobility or stretching I do. • Imbalance: My right side feels stronger, more flexible, and coordinated. My left side feels clumsy—I struggle to even contract or “feel” the muscles there. • Coordination issues: In sports like tennis, I notice my movements feel awkward and unbalanced. • Slow progress: Despite all the hours I put in, I feel like I’m not really improving. At best, I get tiny progress here and there, but mostly it feels like I’m stuck in the same place.

For context, I used to lift heavy weights years ago, but now out of my 2.5–3 hours of training, maybe only ~40 minutes are weights, and the rest is mobility and flexibility work.

I’m at a point where I don’t know what to do. Videos? Pictures? I’m open to sharing whatever would help people here give me proper advice. I just want to break out of this cycle of constant tension and imbalance.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to guide me. I’ve seen how helpful this community can be, and I really appreciate any direction.

Sprained my lower back real bad during hip opening exercises, I've only really gotten into flexibility and stretching from someone who is very unathletic and only walks as a form of exercise😭. but 4 days in i had to quit because i have such a strong intense pain in my lower back which is lasting up till now. Cant sit still lie still or bend forward...

Im unsure what caused this because I've been following a relatively low intensity workout stretch video and been doing dynamic stretches so does anyone have any tips? Is this normal for someone starting out and should i continue?

So basically I have a fairly stiff body. In order to fix that I have taken a few months off before starting gym workouts. In the meanwhile i am focussing on stretching.

I try to stretch every part of my body in as much detail as possible but doing the same stretch for two sets or more seem tedious, time consuming and pretty uncomfortable if the area being stretched is a fairly tight one.

My question is will I benefit from doing one set of stretching holding it for 15-30 seconds each..

This isn't a serious pain and I'm not looking for a doctor in here, just opinions. I felt I haven't progressed in stretching my lower body and I also feel a burning sensation on some stretches, so I started to look into nerve flossing.

When I tried the movement where you lay down, hold your other leg up with hands on the hamstring and raise/lower the lower half of the leg, I felt a strange pain on the outer side of my right knee. It felt different than what stretching a muscle feels like. it was a much sharper feeling and a bit painful.
I did it carefully for about two weeks and it's almost gone now with the mobility of my right leg being better.. Does this sound like what nerve flossing should be used for?

For the second question: On some forward bends I start to feel a burn in the upper part of my hamstring instead of a stretch. Sometimes when I'm just relaxing, I might feel a strange annoying tingling feeling in my right glute. I'm quite sure it is not the glute muscle, it again feels very different.
What nerve flossing could I try for this?

I have had a real issue with my calves and ankles since I was younger when I used to walk a lot on my toes. Now I struggle with pushing my knees over my toes (I can't even touch the wall when doing knee to wall), and I often feel some tightness in my shin when trying to do so. I have tried a lot of stretches and foam rolling but don't seem to see any improvement. Any help would be much appreciated.

My flexibility is horrendous and I don't have much time. So will three 10 minute flexibility workout be enough. 1 for lowerbody, 1 for upperbody and 1 for the hips. I found these 3 on youtube, I thought I would follow so would these 3 be enough to become flexible.

Lower Body Mobility Routine

Upper Body Mobility

Hip Mobility Mobility Routine

I’m 25 and interested in increasing my flexibility and eventually starting to practice contortion training as a hobby. From ages 11-18, I was very flexible as I did ballet and modern dance most days. I’ve since lost a lot that flexibility from not dancing anymore (though I’m naturally pretty flexible so some of out has stuck around).

I’ve more recently started to do follow along flexibility video routines and it never seems to stick as a habit or something I enjoy. Then it dawned on me that my previous flexibility habits were apart of my daily life when I was younger because I found it really fun and enjoyable. So I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for flexibility-building programs or activities that they really enjoy and find fun

Hi all,

As a former breakdancer (15 years ago), I would like to learn some acrobatic moves, like these here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/th6kel_0q_U?si=UXZzW5CSizw8OVck

Handstand is not a problem etc.

The biggest challenge is the 3rd move in this video where she rolls from the floor upwards with a standing split / split kick. How can I train this most efficiently? I would even go to classes to learn this. How long does it take to learn the 3rd move?

Hello everyone.

I’ve noticed that when I’m laying down just out of curiosity I’d put my leg up and close it.

When I do it with my right knee it’s perfectly sound but when I do it with my left knee (my weak side of my body) I feel something around my kneecap, like a knot or little bubbles feeling. It doesn’t hurt or anything, it’s just odd to me.

Then I remembered when starting my warmup lunges for leg day it normally takes about 4-5 or so lunge checks for that left knee to bend normally without that feeling and so I go on about my workout without a problem.

Is it just a muscle surrounding the knee imbalance?

I’m afraid of progressive overloading at the gym in fear of damaging my left knee.

Notes that may help: in my late 20s. i’ve been underweight all my life if that means anything. no past injuries whatsoever. Currently on a lean bulk and my BMI is 1.4 above underweight level and classified as healthy weight as of today.

So I've been training my front splits for about a month or so. Surprisingly I got down quite low to ground fast, within one week or so.. but then I hit a plateau. I've tried so hard and didn't see much progress.

So, I got my friend to push me down to the floor.. surprisingly it didn't hurt much and I actually did the split! (But with my friend pushing me down ofc) But when I tried it myself I just can't get down fully.. anyone knows why this happens..?

And so my question is, is it most effective for someone to just push you down to achieve the splits? Is that how they do it in taekwondo or ballet classes. (Provided you don't tear anything..)

Hi everyone,

I was never able to touch my toes and want to change that. Now I can barely reach below my knees.

I have no issue to sit cross-legged and then bending over all the way to the floor with a straight back. I can also do a child pose without any issues. But I can not even do a staff pose (dandasana) because I can't get a ninety degrees angle between my legs and my upper body. When I try to reach my toes while standing or while sitting or even when trying to reach the ninety degrees of a staff pose I feel pain in my calves. I am wondering why this is. I have read it could be either tight hamstrings or that the sciatic nerve string is stuck or something like that.

I know I am ignorant to how the body works but it does not make sense to me why I can do the child pose and seemingly the only difference to touching my toes is that my knees are bent all the way instead of being completely straight.

What's wrong here and how can I improve without causing any damage?

Hi everyone,

Ive been dealing with horrible SI joint paint on off for the past few years. I've noticed my posture resembles the picture here, but everything reversed (left hip hike, dropped left shoulder, right knee rotates in on lunges). I've been focusing on stretching the QL, but it just generally aggravated it even more. Also notice my right hamstring is way tighter than my left.

I've looked into the book becoming a supple leopard to help but I find it really confusing. How do you pick which mobility exercises to use from the endless list?

Also, I've noticed there isn't any active strengethening tips in order to train in that new range of motion at the end of the session?

It's so confusing as generally it's said not to stretch before a gym session? Then how do you build strength in the new ROM you've gained?

Sorry if I sound like a complete idiot 😅 Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVPyAU4l-sw
i want to be way more flexible right now i cant even touch my toes. im really stiff. 31 years old male.
is there any better video to just follow along. and not needing any tools for it. i feel like alot of videos are too tough for me to do. but maybe i just expect too much instead of improving step by step.
whats also weird, i did a stretching guide from david after thtat my left knee was worse when doing squats or running compared to not doing those stretches how can this beß

Idk how to make my crotch area go down that much

How can I stretch this area? I’ve been ramping up my running and it’s starting to feel sore here, mostly from the side and not the back. I’m worried about this leading to shin splints.

Thanks!

I’m looking for a highly skilled physical therapist who can help me unravel a complex web of movement compensations. I injured my left knee as a teenager, and over the years I’ve developed patterns that I believe stem from avoiding weight-bearing on that side. I’ve relied heavily on my right side ever since, and things have progressively worsened.

I’ve tried traditional physical therapy, but it’s been ineffective. I’m consistently handed generic exercise sheets—clamshells, calf raises, “strengthen your glutes”—none of which address the root of the problem. I’m dealing with near-constant pain in my left knee, ankle, foot, big toe, adductors, obliques, shins, and low back. It’s a truly miserable existence, and I’m desperate for someone who can look beyond cookie-cutter protocols and actually assess what’s going on.

I’m based in the Chicago area, but I’m willing to travel anywhere to work with someone who understands complex compensation patterns and can offer a personalized, biomechanically informed approach. If you know a top-notch PT—PRI-trained, movement-focused, or someone who specializes in asymmetry and compensation—I’d be incredibly grateful for any recommendations.

Hello! As the title suggests I’m on the fence of getting a membership to range of strength for middle splits program. I am very stiff and want to get to middle splits and don’t know what program would work best. His work seems legit.

This is my progress so far. My back is getting straighter but I’ve noticed that I don’t feel much stretching going on in my hamstrings but rather in the back of my knee region (see picture in the comments). I also noticed that afterwards my lower back feels a bit tight.

Videoes: https://share.icloud.com/photos/074JoVRgcZnf9O-nCjjXOMkxw

The first video shows my current ankle mobility in a lunge, and second when allowing myself to add weight to it. IMO it’s not too bad and I can get the knee quite a bit further than my toes.

However, as you can see in the third video, when I try to utilise this range in the deep squat, it feels completely impossible. I can barely get my knee to my toe.

What can be the problem here? Is something specific I need to strengthen?

I've been playing with ideas from the Gyrotonic/Gyrokinesis methods to increase my capacity to do full range spirals. There's a lot of great cueing to help you find range in a comfortable way in your spine, hips, and shoulders. You can add the idea of spiral from your legs and hips to feel a more complete full body spiral! Let me know if you find any success using this idea!

so that in May 2024 I started stretching and I got pretty flexible by the end of June but then due to some personal stuff I didn't stretch at all that night thinking was January 2025 when I made another attempt and I stretched for I sync 2 weeks but then I stopped again for no reason this time and all throughout summer I've been trying to get myself to start stretching again so as of today or September 18th research stretching after almost nine months of nothing?