I have been stretching pretty hard the past 5 months. i have also been squating and deadlifting once a week with good depth. I just can not seem to touch my knees on the ground with the butterfly stretch. Are there any alternative stretches? Will i ever touch my knees to the mat?
Hip Flexibility
- Thread starter LilLydi9
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Some people have been doing BJJ for 10+ years where I go, they can't do it. I'm a month in and I can - everyone's different.
Though...apparently it's kind of rare to see a 300 pound guy be able to do it.
A tip on how I did it though. I would start with my heels about 6 inches away from my groin - then I would lean forward, getting closer to my feet with my face chest (you may have to start further out) each time I exhaled.
I can butterfly the whole way down with my heels touching my cup now.
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a dead stick
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Sometimes you have to physically push your body to make gains in stretching. Try using your arms to force your knees down (slowly and gently so you don't hurt yourself) or get someone to help you. Push it a little farther than you can go and hold it for 30 second increments, endure a little pain and keep doing it a little more every few days.
Just be careful to only go a little farther each time so you don't tear/pull anything.
Another good stretch for the hips is to kneel on all fours and and then do the splits with your knees on the ground, with your feet pointing straight back and resting on your elbows. Then you force your pelvis towards the floor just like normal side splits, and you can also rock forwards and backwards like you are humping the floor. Go slowly with this stretch also as it can get intense rather quickly. You can have a partner help with this simply by pushing straight down on your tailbone.
Another good stretch is to do a wide stance squat, (look up Kung-fu/Karate Horse stance) with your back totally straight and your pelvis tilted forward as far as it can go/ass tucked all the way in. As you sink deep into the stance, keeping this posture you will notice very quickly that it stretches the insides of your hips/thighs immensely. There is less risk with this stretch as you just sink comfortably a little more each time.
Just be careful to only go a little farther each time so you don't tear/pull anything.
Another good stretch for the hips is to kneel on all fours and and then do the splits with your knees on the ground, with your feet pointing straight back and resting on your elbows. Then you force your pelvis towards the floor just like normal side splits, and you can also rock forwards and backwards like you are humping the floor. Go slowly with this stretch also as it can get intense rather quickly. You can have a partner help with this simply by pushing straight down on your tailbone.
Another good stretch is to do a wide stance squat, (look up Kung-fu/Karate Horse stance) with your back totally straight and your pelvis tilted forward as far as it can go/ass tucked all the way in. As you sink deep into the stance, keeping this posture you will notice very quickly that it stretches the insides of your hips/thighs immensely. There is less risk with this stretch as you just sink comfortably a little more each time.
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It comes easier for some people than others, but the majority of people can do most stretches, even quite advanced/difficult ones, with enough practice. A few things to bear in mind
1. Don't bend your back, and especially don't let sag at the lower back, when doing the stretch- doing that lowers the intensity of the stretch
2. Alternate between bending forward with a completely flat back, and allowing your back to bend
3. When you're as deep into the stretch as possible (as far forward), take a big deep breath, and as you exhale try to relax and go further- a lot of the time it is tension that is holding you where you are.
4. Start with your feet together reasonably far out- slowly bring them closer to your body as you get better
5. For a slightly easier stretch, raise your hips by sitting on the edge of a folded over towel (so that the edge comes up to end of the buttocks and no further, i.e. so the leg isn't on the towel but the hips are). When you get better doing this, take the towel away or fold it less
5. Once you get to a decent level, get someone to assist you. You can get a partner to stand, one foot on each thigh, while you are in that stretch. They should start off close to the hips. Once they are comfortable, they can work their way up the thigh until both feet are close to the knee. If you are able to get your knees fairly close to the ground, doing this will stretch them all the way down. If this is comfortable, they can rock slightly from side to side. You can also practice bending forward.
6. Stretch more in every day life. All the really, really stretchy people I know stretch all the time. When they are watching movies or talking to friends, chances are they are doing some type of stretch. You have to make use of hours where you're otherwise not doing anything to work on your flexibilty.
1. Don't bend your back, and especially don't let sag at the lower back, when doing the stretch- doing that lowers the intensity of the stretch
2. Alternate between bending forward with a completely flat back, and allowing your back to bend
3. When you're as deep into the stretch as possible (as far forward), take a big deep breath, and as you exhale try to relax and go further- a lot of the time it is tension that is holding you where you are.
4. Start with your feet together reasonably far out- slowly bring them closer to your body as you get better
5. For a slightly easier stretch, raise your hips by sitting on the edge of a folded over towel (so that the edge comes up to end of the buttocks and no further, i.e. so the leg isn't on the towel but the hips are). When you get better doing this, take the towel away or fold it less
5. Once you get to a decent level, get someone to assist you. You can get a partner to stand, one foot on each thigh, while you are in that stretch. They should start off close to the hips. Once they are comfortable, they can work their way up the thigh until both feet are close to the knee. If you are able to get your knees fairly close to the ground, doing this will stretch them all the way down. If this is comfortable, they can rock slightly from side to side. You can also practice bending forward.
6. Stretch more in every day life. All the really, really stretchy people I know stretch all the time. When they are watching movies or talking to friends, chances are they are doing some type of stretch. You have to make use of hours where you're otherwise not doing anything to work on your flexibilty.
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That's because they clearly are not stretching enough/correctly
with the butterfly you have to take yourself to the limit of what you can do - and then some. that's how you make gains in stretching.
I went from not be close with my knees to the mat with the butter fly to the point where I can put my leg behind my head. both my knees on the mat in butterfly with my face touching my feet. took me like 3-5 months of stretching like 3 times a week.
you just gotta do it.
EDIT: how the hell is snorlax a MW
Mat Nemesis**
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I like this stuff by ryan hall
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+1
these stretches are easy to remember and easy to make harder. very good stretches to do
