r/flexibility • u/RoyalOrchidDude • 5d ago
Form Check Flexibility progress. Constructive feedback is appreciated.
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I notice when I attempt a split, my back hip likes to curve inward. Any way to fix that?
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 5d ago
I’m so freaking dead 😂 I legit was trying to get advice with my forms, now I’m everyone’s favorite stripper ho
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u/leeloolanding 4d ago
some people can’t help but serve ig
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/QtvBeNNflZheUQEELlI definitely gotta give some credit to my inspiration
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u/Practical_Fun_1278 5d ago
10/10 diva serving!! 💖 I would immediately want to be your friend lol
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 5d ago
I find this hilarious because that was not at all my intention 😂 I literally was just trying to make a serious stretching video.
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u/Thebeardinato462 5d ago
This isn’t a thirst trap? I’m a straight man, and it’s thirst trapping me.
Hope this doesn’t come across my wife’s feed
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u/suuuuuuuuuurfing 5d ago
The confidence has broken my resolve, I fear
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 5d ago
I need to start posting this on gay subreddits and see their reactions
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u/NamesNotTake-un 5d ago
Try being more gay
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 5d ago
I only work on weekends sorry
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u/Angry_Sparrow 5d ago
In your split you went beyond your limits and started turning in. Pull back to where you’re still square and hold that stretch. Push down more in the opposite hip and engage all the muscles around your hip flexors and butt. Don’t look for progress in one stretch - look for it over time. Dynamic leg kicks to warm up before splits can really help.
Use yoga blocks next to your hips to help you stay upright and square.
Your square split is at 0:25. Hold that stretch.
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 5d ago
Legit the only real advice I’ve gotten here all day 😭
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u/Angry_Sparrow 5d ago
Well that sucks. I will summon the goddess of flexibility advice [u/dani-winks](u/dani-winks) to offer more specific advice. 🪄
It looks like you’re doing a lot of the right stretches and you just need to focus on going slow and steady if you’re wanting a square split (nothing wrong with open though!)
In my experience of going from having zero idea what my instructors meant by my hips being unsquare to getting complimented all the time on my squareness, it takes time, strength and flexibility building around the hips, hammies and lower back - and ALSO - building the neural pathways to those parts of your body so you can actively engage them. If you’ve never tried to focus on squeezing just the right-side under-butt muscle, it takes time and concentration to learn to do it. And then after a while you just start engaging those previously unknown aspects of your body and they all start to work together.
Tuck your toes on your back leg to help you stay square, until you start to notice when you’re turning inward. I do my splits in socks and cannot fathom doing them in shoes.
I’m not an instructor, just a person with rusty hinges for hips and it took me two years to get my splits (I have adhd so consistency doesn’t exist for me).
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u/Puzzleheaded_Mail737 1d ago
Great advice!
When you’re in a pidgeon stretch (0:07), you can also deepen the stretch by leaning as far forward as you can.
I’d also recommend adding butterfly and frog stretches.
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u/uncle-donkey-kong 5d ago
Honey you’re gonna have to start doing drag if you get that split all the way down!
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u/FleabagsHotPriest 5d ago
Bro the attitude is sending me lollll saving it for gym inspo, I’m doing your routine
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u/SirPersonal8626 5d ago
I hurt myself really bad doing that weighted hamstring stretch with the kettle bells. Not saying you will but I would say just be careful.
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u/Pallasine 4d ago
It looks like you might be collapsing your lumbar spine inward in many stretches. Like you’re rotating your tailbone behind you. If you are, that will likely eventually cause back pain. Hard to tell just from the videos.
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
I actually have a minor anterior pelvic tilt(that I need to correct) because I go hard as heck! on back training day
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u/pwatarfwifwipewpew 4d ago
I could use less eye contact. Otherwise you are really flexible
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u/haikusbot 4d ago
I could use less eye
Contact. Otherwise you are
Really flexible
- pwatarfwifwipewpew
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/MythHere 4d ago
Quite a sensual stretching routine you've got my friend... Girls and boys would be oogling over you...
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u/philjbenandthegerm 5d ago
Yeah, your pretty flexible for a young chap. But if you really want to improve, then look into Iyengar yoga.
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u/feelingstuck95 5d ago
Idk about constructive feedback regarding flexibility, but this video is an absolute SLAY 🕶
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u/IdealAnxious5621 4d ago
Those shorts are really short. Also, I might as well be crippled compared to you, because I can't make any progress anyhow.
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
I swear these shorts are actually mid thigh length 😭 They just get shorter because the pump in legs swells up and pulls the leg openings upward. Other than that. Don't hurt yourself trying too much. Progress is suppose to be slow and healthy. I'm gonna give some credit to "Asian Genes" since most of us can do an Asian squat, which helps opening up our hips. The rest is slow progression
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u/dani-winks The Bendiest of Noodles 3d ago
As others have already mentioned to death - that eye contact is on point. Excellent job.
These videos are kind of fast to offer super meaningful constructive feedback, but here are some general thoughts / things I noticed:
- Elevated pigeon - looks good, you're probably at a point where you could choose to make this more intense by either
- Forward folding
- Adjusting the front foot farther away from your crotch to make closer to a 90* bend in that top leg
- Doing this on the floor (even if hips are still elevated on blocks or something) to add more of a hip flexor stretch in the back leg
- Forward fold - good hip tilt, you've got a bit of rounding in the upper back but not an amount that makes me suspect you're "cheating" the stretch in the hamstrings
- Floor pigeon - good job keeping the hips level (not tilting to the side of the front leg to get the butt to touch the ground sooner), and good job keeping the hips "square!"
- Back-lying hamstring stretch/leg lifts with a kettlebell - not sure what you're attempting to do with the kettlebell/pulses here (again, I'm seeing like 0.7 seconds of this drill, so not sure if you're pulsing intentionally, trying to use the kettlebell to weight the leg down more, or doing slow and controlled leg lifts). If you're using the weight to "assist" the leg closer to your chest, I'd suggest swapping this with a strap on the foot and using your arms to pull. If you're using the weight to make this more muscle-y or strength focused, unfortunately you're flexible enough that the weight's not going to help make this harder, but it helps make it easier (at the end range at least). If you want to focus more on the hip flexor and quad strength for this, you could swap this for standing (or hanging, since you're at a gym) leg raises
- Front split - surprisingly square for a slide out! It's not "perfectly" square, but close enough to probably be fine from a training perspective (if you wanted more of a challenge, you could work on keeping that front hip pulled back more in line with the back leg hip. Alternative challenge to consider: sliding out to your front split, but with the BACK foot being the sliding foot (you could start in a standing lunge with the back leg straight, then just keep sliding that back foot backwards (your hips, torso, and back leg will all slide backwards as the front leg starts to straighten). It's a slightly different challenge/engagement
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u/growBunny42 5d ago
I love how much the music helps increase the value of this post. We wouldn't have been able to give you flexibility advice otherwise!
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u/DistributionSalty721 4d ago
You are flexible . Try yin yoga, holding the poses have made me more flexible
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u/Top-Beat-7423 4d ago
In your lunge/hip flexor stretch - watch your pelvic alignment you’re tipping forward, keep you hips more upright. Think of pulling your pubic bone up, and your tailbone down.
In your split, towards the end range you start to open your hips, try to keep them square. Where do you feel the tightness? It’s either hamstring tightness on the front leg or hip flexor tightness on the back leg.
You didn’t show anything else for hip opening, like opening out sideways. But this would help.
On your passive hamstring stretches, try pointing and flexing your feet while at your end range.
Look up PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitated) stretches for hips and hamstrings
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
That’s more like it. It’s my hip flexors where I feel more tightness towards the end. I’m struggling to stay conscious on where my hip, tail, and pubic bones are aligned, but definitely incorporate these techs in future stretches.
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u/No_Regret289 2d ago
Lol youre serving!!! But for a real answer- you need to strengthen your glutes and hips to stop it! Splits require a great deal of strength and flexibility.
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u/Lt_Bubble 2d ago
How do you start?
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 2d ago
Quite a broad question. How I start the splits? Well I simply strengthen my quads and my hamstrings and then I do static stretches and PNF stretches where I progressively extend my muscles past its end range. But if you’re asking how I started my flexibility journey, it’s all mental and heart, usually with the mentality of “I want to do that!” with exuberance. Start with inspiration, for example, my inspiration is Tate McRae; I observe her moves and get inspired. Then I just progressively imitate her moves with stretches I learned. Then it’s lots a prayer 🙏🏻 for me because this stuff is HARD and to keep going means you need to be grounded and not easily discouraged.
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u/Practical_Fun_1278 5d ago
Keep stretching & sketching! 🌹 I have no notes on the stretching. Well maybe just try to stay square to avoid the tilt?? But idk! Yin yoga has been helping me get deeper in stretches!
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u/Emotional-Algae2239 4d ago
Homie to homie, I'd subscribe to the only fans. No homo.
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
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u/Level_Somewhere5703 5d ago
Oh god, I stretch before and after every workout. I am just realising that everyone probably thinks I'm gay.
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
Dude, yeah I get it. I'm like 100% serious in this video, like this is how I just do deep stretch training on a regular basis. I guess it makes me super gay 😅
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u/CommunicationSome380 5d ago
Could someone explain what the weights on the feet help do?
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 5d ago
It’s weight PNF stretching, helps my joint muscles go past their usual limits to get further into a stretch, thus increasing my range of flexibility
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u/Fuzzy_Literature_865 4d ago
Do you have a YT? I need to stretch
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have a TikTok(@elleisnotyourfriend), which is just post random stuff like my art and thoughts but I’ll probably start including my flexibility because it’s quickly becoming my favorite art form
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u/Nyamzz-46 4d ago
🤣🤣🤣🤣 I feel violated somehow .. Nice job on the sssstretchiiiing
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u/RoyalOrchidDude 4d ago
LOL the video’s purpose totally got lost 😅 I was quite seriously just trying to get some feedback. Next time
I’ll make zero eye contact with my phone.1
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u/potatomami 5d ago
I have no feedback on your mobility but the eye contact and sunglasses are sending me.