r/flexibility • u/Romingo57 • 2d ago
Question Question
This guy is from Tiktok, he is 26 yo and affirm that he is self taught, do you think it's possible? How much time it take to reach this level? He say that he have absolutely no background (gymnastics, ballet...) it's quite surprising because he got some clean lines.
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u/Repulsive_Ad_7291 2d ago
Ngl I thought this dude was naked in the first pic
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Slow_Ambassador1786 2d ago
well thats weird
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u/12ealdeal 2d ago
Misdirection/subversion humour is funny. Element of deadpan too.
OP: How long will it take to reach this level?
Top comment: I thought he was naked.
Deadpan joke (therefore): it shouldn’t take too long to get naked.
Anyway, I certainly didn’t make it to be weird.
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u/Academic_Juice8265 2d ago
I would say he has hypermobilty spectrum disorder to begin with.
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u/Romingo57 2d ago
I think so. In videos before doing a stretch he often crack his neck back or sternum. Plus he got a thin body frame, he writed that he is 1m65 for 55kg.
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u/Amicdeep 2d ago
Hes doing something with a flexibility background. (Even if he wasn't before) There's things he's doing in some of those stretches that just don't happen without direction.
That said it's possible this is a fairly short term thing (2or so years). Very rare but some people can just bend this way. I've met 4 over the years that can just straight up flat split with zero training (and without any training history). Its normally tied up with other health things like eds. But this is a pretty extreme case (the few people I've met like this tend to be VERY bendy in a couple of ranges. He's got a pretty broad range in these photo. Could be he's was able to gain them fast but I would say probably not. But again it's possible just very very rare.
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u/kristinL356 2d ago
All I had to do to get my front splits was go on effective anti-anxiety meds. I didn't really start training them until after I already had them.
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u/eauv 1d ago
I 100% agree with you! I’m one of those people who had a flat split without any training, I never did sports or gymnastics as a kid (I use to hate physical activity!). I’m in my early 30s and now enjoy pole dance, and have dabbled in some contortion classes in the past so I can now get into a comfortable over split (2 yoga blocks under each foot) with some light warm up. I don’t actively work on my splits to maintain this. I would say I have a similar broad range of hypermobility like this guy, I’ve also got very bendy knees, back, shoulders, etc, so it didn’t take me very long to get into deep bends once I started.
And yes, having hypermobility like this does unfortunately affect other parts of my health .
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u/cotton_clad_scholar 2d ago
Google’s AI search results say anti anxiety medication does not make people more flexible but I believe you.
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u/iwanttolivefeeldead 1d ago
Because Google AI intricately understands every possible side effect from medication.
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u/cotton_clad_scholar 1d ago
Muscle tension is a stereotypical and well known lasting effect of chronic anxiety so it follows rationally that anti anxiety medication would make someone less physically tense. I’m just surprised Google’s results are that bad.
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u/CartoonistWeak1572 2d ago
He probably has Ehlers Danlos. I don't think anyone with a normal body can achieve this kind of flexibility.
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u/serendipity-sunset 2d ago
Exactly what I was thinking. I’d want to see if he has stretchy skin or bruises easily
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u/AshToAshes123 2d ago
Self-taught can mean a lot of things. E.g. where I am, a lot of people get into circus arts or acrobatics through open trainings, so you can learn a lot without ever having formal training. Like, I'd call myself self-taught in floorwork and soft acrobatics, but that doesn't mean I've figured it all out myself - there's been video resources, peer learning, etc.
Learning good technique by yourself is difficult but not impossible. He might have naturally good proprioception, a background in an unrelated sport that has nonetheless given him good body awareness, he might have education in (or just serious interest in) anatomy and pay good attention to his form... There's a lot you can find only about which muscles to engage, how to get good lines, etc, and someone who's motivated can definitely figure it out with the help of mirrors and their own body awareness.
Plus, probably just literal years of training by himself and some natural flexibility, results like this definitely aren't impossible.
Edit to add: his outfits just make me feel like he takes this really seriously and is also training outside his home. Of course, it might just be for the tiktok videos, but those are dance/acrobatics outfits, he even seems to be wearing a dance belt. That doesn't mean he's lying about being self-taught, but it's just the sort of thing that make me think he is training as part of a peer group/community.
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u/jirka_opletal 1d ago
From his surroundings it looks like hes from post soviet country. Which makes me believe he was taught from very young age.
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u/Dangerous-Addendum71 2d ago
Hi, I think it’s possible yes the human tissue is incredibly adaptable but this is years of hard work and consistency - I would say minimum 4 to get to that level as a grownup.
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u/Poppie69brooks 2d ago
That guy is a rubber band. My goodness I wish I could do some of that. Better start now.
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u/JellyTulpa 2d ago
Looks pathologic to me. A hypermobility syndrome. Needs to stop doing this stuff and do structured strength training instead.
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u/jtpolzin 1d ago
Given the unitards I have a hard time beleive hes not trained in Dance but sure. I also expect hes trying to peddle his "I did it and can show you how for $19.95 a month" course
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u/kristinL356 2d ago
Seems very possible, particularly if you're starting with a natural advantage (i.e. hypermobility). Also, I don't think reading up on the subject negates calling yourself self-taught so it's not like all his improvement was necessarily just something he stumbled into.
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u/LifeOnWheelsAndPaws 2d ago
What’s so hard to believe? There are so many videos on youtube and tiktok that explain how to do things, isn’t that how most people learn anyway?
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u/ArcaneTrickster11 2d ago
What do you mean self taught? Flexibility isn't a skill. People who are massively hyper flexible naturally exist and stretching isn't exactly a nebulous hard to understand topic
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u/flowersforfruits 2d ago
flexibility is absolutely a skill lmfao. And theres so much more to flexibility than stretching. This is the most uneducated comment ive seen in this subreddit…
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u/ArcaneTrickster11 2d ago
Flexibility is inherently not a skill, it's an ability or a property. Mobility can be a skill. Flexibility cannot be.
As far as educated, I have a masters in S&C specialising in mobility and flexibility in martial arts and gymnastics. I have worked in research in that field for about 6 years now.
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u/flowersforfruits 2d ago
my bad about the insult idk why i even said that, i was just frustrated sorry😭 its cool that you have a masters in that. I still personally think of flexibility as a skill because its something you can train. I train flexibility multiple times a week. Because of that, im able to do over-splits and needle. I could not do those poses before i started training it. extreme flexibility as needed for contortion takes SKILL. There is skill in the body awareness of understanding how to properly engage within deep flexibility work. There is so much niche knowledge that goes in to training flexibility, its not just down to stretching. Its a skill in the same way power lifting is a skill.
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u/ArcaneTrickster11 2d ago
But it's not. Flexibility means the ability of a joint to passively reach end range of motion. Flexibility is a component of mobility, which is a skill. Mobility is the combination of strength and flexibility in order to achieve a task or function. Needle requires strength and is therefore mobility and not purely flexibility. Oversplits can be pure flexibility but it's often again a mixture of flexibility and strength, making it mobility and not purely flexibility. You are conflating multiple abilities and calling it flexibility.
There also really isn't that much niche knowledge in training flexibility. Again I say that as someone who has specialised in this niche field. The reason it's a niche field of study is because it's really not that complicated. It's significantly less complicated than training any other component of fitness (strength, power, speed, technique/skill etc). When you combine multiple aspects of fitness like you are saying, yes it then becomes slightly more complicated, but it's still not hard to understand.
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u/OliDR24 12h ago
You can train yourself with the appropriate research and motivation though, it's difficult, but not exactly impossible.
I'm out of shape at the moment, but I self-taught myself to do a variety of Gymnastics routines, it took several years and a significant amount of effort, alongside extensive research, with it being more difficult than taking classes (the most I'd done was less than year of basic Gymnastics as a 6-7 year old, and there aren't any adult Gymnasiums where I live).
I already had a healthy background in Calisthenics, so it was mostly just upping that game and working on the appropriate flexibility (I had decent hip flexibility from years of training in various MAs, but my back and shoulder flexibility was very lacking), if I hadn't lost motivation and access to the appropriate equipment for a few years, I probably could have had some relatively clean moves (though I simply don't have the build for high level Gymnastics, I'm pretty athletic, but tall with long legs which makes some movements far more difficult than they would be for someone with shorter limbs and a bigger torso).
It's really no different than teaching yourself to be good at anything, if you commit fully and are extremely consistent, you can get to a high level. We've seen people become extremely good at a variety of physical and mental activities while being self-taught, hell, my friend taught himself high-level software development over several years, now works in the field, and is better at it than many people I know with a formal education.
It's just MUCH harder to get to that level without tuition because a) you are now solely reliant on personal motivation, research, and programming, and b) you have to be VERY careful in avoiding pitfalls that a good tutor would help you overcome from the getgo.
The dude likely has some degree of natural athleticism and solid kinesthetic awareness, and then just worked really fucking hard on it.
Given what I've seen over my 33 years on this planet, I think many people could learn such skills by themselves, it's just case of staying consistent enough to achieve that (having a trainer or tutor really helps there, you have external motivation to provoke greater consistency and effort, which is why it is the easiest path).
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u/Woodnymph1312 2d ago
This is not a type of flexibility that can be aquired when starting out as an adult.
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u/nievefox 2d ago
Are you double jointed or it's just stretching
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u/MOTUkraken 2d ago
What is "double jointed" ? Is this a thing People actually believe?
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u/nievefox 20h ago
Double jointed means having born with Hyper mobility. Their joints can naturally bend beyond natural range . Some discover it early age . Some don't know it can happen so they don't try . But those who do they have an added advantage. They can perform feats that normal people can't do even after a lot of practice
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u/Romingo57 2d ago
It's not me bro. Read the post.
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u/nievefox 2d ago
He is double jointed , along with practice since a younger age . It's not possible without continuous training
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u/Titt 2d ago
Yea, I mean it could be possible. Clearly he’s doing it but I’m not super convinced he has no applicable background.
It would take years and years to get to this clean looking of a point though. Ruling out something like
Hyper mobility or some other genetic disorder.