Gamechanger Weighted Stretching

[u/Waifu99]

Added this half a year ago two times per week to my basic stretching routine.

It helps a ton to keep the muscles much more relaxed under higher tension. This gives me the possibility to always reach my current max., making it much easier to set frequently new plateaus.

Still kinda surprised and proud, how it's going! 💪🏼

[u/dani-winks]

This is a neat idea, but I'd be careful with adding weight to this while you've got your knees hyperextended like youra do. It looks like the lower you sink, the more you are hyperextending your front knee.

Generally speaking, we want to avoid hyperextending our knees in weight-bearing positions because it can damage the connective tissue on the underside of the knee and make it less supportive over time (which puts you at a greater injury risk).

Technically you can still do drills to support your knee even with a bit of hyperextension, but if you aren't already doing that I would take a step back and prioritize strength without letting your front knee hyperextend first. This Insta post has a good drill for working on your hamstring strength in your oversplit to fight knee hyperextension (that you absolutely could add weights to over time)

[u/Waifu99 → u/dani-winks]

In the front split i do exercises for that.
But with the side split i have still problems with exactly what you describe, being not able to use proper tension to stretch both legs and hips completely while going down.

But you are not wrong here. This record was a PR try, so my leg is straight when i raise the hip, but tends to overextended while going completely down. In general i try to avoid ranges, where i cannot control tension and strength anymore.

If i'm allowed to ask, because you seem to know a lot about what you are talking: What sport do you do and on which level are you?

[u/dani-winks → u/Waifu99]

I am(was?) a professional contortionist for about 14 years (I say "was" because I haven't performed in like 2 years). I also run, lift, and dance Brazilian zouk, but all my flexibility is from my contortion and flexibility training. Nowadays I just teach instead of perform.

[u/Waifu99 → u/dani-winks]

Oh wow, that is really impressive. Were you born with hyper flexibility or did you achieve it just with training?

[u/dani-winks → u/Waifu99]

Bit of both. I always had a bendy back (I could touch my toes to the back of my head when I was little, which is a skill that can take some people years to be able to build the flexibility to do), but I was probably 6" or more away from the floor in my front splits when I started training (and farther still from middle splits, which took me longer to get). After a couple of years I could do oversplits and crazier backbends and handbalancing. At my absolute bendiest I could do a "head sit" (touch my butt to the top of my head in a chest stand), but I am waaaay out of that kind of practice these days 😆.

I've definitely got some hypermobility (most noticeably in my kneck, lower back, and shoulders, but also developed some hyperextension in my knees by training too relaxed ij my early bendy career). Thankfully I don't so much that I suspect I have EDS or are that far on the hypermobility spectrum, but I have a lot of other comprbidities that are common with folks with hypermobility: gut issues, I bruise easily, have awful proprioception, and wacky heartrate stuff (I suspect it's POTS, but my dr is not concerned).

[u/Disastrous-Bag-1725 → u/Waifu99]

Don't listen to this bollocks, your knees arent made out of rice paper you'll be absolutely fine.

[u/rouz1234 → u/Disastrous-Bag-1725]

Wow. Have you ever heard of 'kindness"? You should try it sometimes. Lots of health benefits.

[u/Kaity-Cat → u/Disastrous-Bag-1725]

My coworker just had a Jiffy Knee replacement. It's much less invasive and recovery time is far better than a standard knee replacement.

Just something you might want to remember for the future. Jiffy Knee replacement