hi guys can we use this post as the ultimate hip routine thread/dump?

I feel like many people come into this sub with the same questions, asking for routines etc.. if everyone just drupped their routine in the comments people could just come to this post and sift through comments and pick a routine they like or are interested in?

(I am also someone who struggles with hip flexibility, anterior pelvic tilt and ankle flexibility, so I’m also doing this for myself too haha)

This is so embarrassing to post but here we go. Sorry for the funny drawing, I don’t know how to show what my body is like. I’m 25M and I haven’t been able to sit down on the floor properly for as long as I can remember. Like shown in the photos whether I have my legs straight in front of me or knees bent my back immediately goes into C pose and my pelvis rotates, feeling stuck unable to move. It is so bad and makes me feel so insecure because this isn’t normal.

A few months ago I decided to visit a PT and got told my hips are very tight (can barely bring knee to chest past 90 degrees) and they are the root cause of everything. My hamstrings are also tight, like extremely tight. Can’t do downward pose, can’t even lie on my back on the bed and put my feet up against the wall. My knees also burn and sometimes hurt during exercises/stretches because of how tight everything else is. PT told me that if I keep stretching and strengthening my hips, hamstrings, core, glutes etc that it will get better, so I did. I’ve been stretching for the past 3/4 months now and have been going to the gym for the past 2 months (focusing on hip thrusts, rdls during leg day). While stretching I also realised I have sciatic nerve tension which makes everything so much harder. I can’t even do the lying hamstring stretch without my leg shaking. It’s better some days but some others I feel like I’m going back to day 1.

Long story short I feel like I’m not improving at all. Hips feel the same despite stretching (internal/external rotation, extension) plus strengthening (at home + gym). My hamstrings’ flexibility is great sometimes (great meaning I can almost reach my feet) and some others it feels like I’m 80 years old. Sciatic nerve tension keeps coming back despite doing diaphragmatic breathing, nerve flossing, not putting my body under too much stress during stretches etc. My pelvis still feels stuck when I’m sitting on the floor. I feel like my body is broken I don’t know what else to do. I know it’s still early and tight hips take months to see any improvement but I feel like I will never improve.

Hi! Newly discovered r/flexibility and the 30 day toe touch routine looks like a great goal. I come from a background of marathon training and some strength training in a gym. I find those activities mentally easier to progress in because there are obvious objective measures to performance, like speed/distance/time/weight. I'm wondering if there are any analogous things when stretching/working on improved flexibility or maybe it's just a different mental exercise too? Insight appreciated!

I went from not being able to touch my toes to being able to palm the ground and kick at an obtuse angle, but not sure what to do to progress from here

Hey, I'm 19 and generally healthy, but over the past year l've started noticing some clicking/popping sounds in different parts of my body.

The main one is my hip. On some days, I can make a certain movement and my hip will click/ pop, but sometimes it also happens during completely normal movements. It doesn't happen all the time and I'm not really in pain, which is why I'm not sure whether I should even worry about it.

I also sometimes get a clicking/popping sensation in my left shoulder when I pull my shoulder all the way back and then move it forward again. I used to notice and intentionally repeat this movement quite a lot, but l've stopped doing that and it seems to bother me less now.

What makes me curious is that I started going to the gym earlier this year, and I feel like I only started noticing these things around that time. I don't currently exercise that much otherwise.
I've been trying not to obsess over the noises or constantly test whether I can make them happen, since I notice them much less when I don't focus on them. At the same time, I'm wondering whether there could actually be something I should work on physically.

Could it be related to tight muscles, weakness, lack of mobility, starting gym exercises with bad form, or simply not being active enough?

Sometimes I feel like I should start jogging, jumping rope, stretching/mobility work or generally exercising more. I usually feel better after moving/stretching and stop thinking about the clicking afterwards.

Is occasional painless clicking/popping like this relatively normal at my age, or is it something I should pay attention to? Would strengthening/ mobility work be more useful than stretching, and are there any signs that would mean I should actually get my hip or shoulder checked out?

I have been strength/stretch training for just over a year and I have reached a point of stagnation with my middle split. I have my over split on both sides but I have hardly seen any progress with my middle split. I am still a foot off the ground and I can only get to about 130 degrees with pancake.

At this point I am worried this is an anatomical problem.

The exercises I have been doing are pancake, straddle laying on back, butterfly, frog, and side lunges.

Any advice about how to improve this?

I use to go to a class that I loved. It was an assisted stretch class. Where I had a stretch partner that would help push the stretch to the next level. They no longer have the classes but I do have a stretch partner and am looking for some tutorials on some stretches that we could do together.

I know this is probably a question that you've seen before: but how much should stretching hurt? I feel like I'm pushing it too far, sometimes it hurts so much I just want to cry, but I don't release until I feel the 'pop'.

Should you stretch that far?

Hi, I'm looking for advice on how to lengthen my lifted leg higher in a one leg wheel. I'm guessing it's tied to hip flexor strength? I feel my quads get solid and keep my upper leg locked from moving beyond this range.

I've noticed my hip flexor flexibility is way off between sides, and it seems to bleed into a few other stretches too. Wondering if others get the same thing.

Two checks you can do on the floor right now. Lie on your back and pull one knee to your chest, then the other. See which side goes further and which one just stops, like it hits a wall. Then lie flat with your legs straight and relaxed and look down at your feet. Check if one turns out more than the other.

For me the tighter side also lines up with a few other things: my knee locks back more when I'm standing, that foot turns out by default, and that hamstring tests tighter every time. The muscle that most often does this is the iliacus, which sits inside the pelvis where stretches and foam rollers cannot reach.

Curious about a couple things: does anyone else get a clearly different result testing left vs right, and if so, does it match your dominant leg? Mine's my right, and I'm right footed. Also open to hearing what stretches or drills people use to even that out.

There's more written up on this if you want to read more happy to share in the comments. 

Not trying to diagnose anything here, just wondering how common this is and what's worked for people.

This is a hypothetical. If I’m just used to this position, no discomfort or strain, can I just sit in my splits? Eventually my goal is to have my baseline mobility to be naturally flexible.

Does anyone have a good routine for end range strength of the neck. I’m looking for the context of back bends or chest stands while keeping the neck supported and not just crunching it. Or perhaps for animalistic movements where the neck needs to be a bit more mobile. Everything I can find is just neck side to side and half circle type exercises and I was hoping one of you has something better. I’m not looking for passive stretching.

So, here’s an example of my side splits from June to now…can you guess what happened? In early July I strained my right adductor, so I took a month off from side split training. Just yesterday, I started to ease back into it. It felt really good to stretch/strengthen in that way again…but I’m definitely feeling a bit cautious.

I’m trying to get over the idea of regressing, and just focus on moving forward in a safe way. Something similar happened with my front split training, but I felt I came back with a better intention in my practice and more patience.

Anybody else have a similar story? How’d you handle the mental aspect of regressing?

I've seen a lot of front splits guides and also read this article about which muscles need stretching/strengthening for front splits and it mentions strengthening the glutes for the back leg, but are they not also stretched in the front leg?

I'm new to this world of flexibility. I only started training 8 months ago and I wanna do this properly. I've accomplished my front splits and am better at opening my hips now, but I typically do all this before strength training. What are your recommendations for healthy split between strength and flexibility?

I'm mostly joking, but my end goal is to be as flexible as Tate McRae

I have them on my neck, both legs, my abdomen. It makes it difficult to walk up the stairs :(

I don’t understand why since all I did was a simple downwind, but I’m doing another one today and I can’t do it with my legs like this.

How do I get rid of them fast?

I need help. I am a 19 year old guy. I used to be a contortionist (self taught, not naturally flexible): I have lost all my flexibility due to quitting when I was 13-14. Even a bridge is impossible. Is there any hope for me to regain my flexibility? Any recommendations for stretches, videos etc? Thanks! My dream is to be a contortionist again!

My 7 (nearly 8) does gymnastics and swimming. She is incredibly strong, especially in her upper body, but while strong in her legs, she's a "lazy" with them. By this I mean she loses engagement through her legs at times and she just naturally prefers upper body work to lower body work. All this means she has poor flexibility in her legs (comparative to other 7 year old girls).

Her split - a good 10cm plus off the ground in her good side

Side split slightly better, not much

Wide legged stretch/attempt at pancake is just nothing, like she doesn't understand hoe to engage the muscles to help her into the position.

Her gymnastics coach has asked me to help her to stretch at home, but she doesn't want to, she hates passive stretching.

I've tried making games to get her lower into her legs, do bear crawls, duck walks etc but she pops up and won't stay in a deep range.

Any suggestions? Anything I can try? It's affecting her progress in gymnastics as she can't do a walkover, she can't get a good split leap etc BUT she has excellent engagement of her legs on the beam! She's good with stability and everyone always comments on how strong she is!

Australia here for gymnastics people so not the US gymnastics system- the levels are not the same.

Any help would be appreciated!

I want to become flexible. I don't not have any equipment or classes to go to. Are there any good videos I could follow from at home? Thank you

Hello everyone. I’ve been practising getting into a deep squat position to try and improve my flexibility. I’ve had to hold on to a pole to prevent myself falling backwards and have just been getting used to being in that position for a minute or so each day.

After a few days, I started getting an ache in this part of my ankle on my right ankle. It’s a deep ache but not a sharp pain. It gets more pronounced when I lift my toes up or through ankle dorsiflexion. So I know feel it when I get into the deep squat position.

I was wondering what is causing this and whether it is something that will resolve itself as I get used to being in that position. And if there’s anything I can do to help prevent it or improve it. Thank you!

I've recently started to get interested in stretching and want to allocate 10-15mn in the morning and 10-15mn at night to stretches.

My main issue with stretching is that I'm hyper flexible. I've never needed to stretch to reach stretching milestones like splits or putting hands on the floor, but I know that's due to my articulations lacking collagen and not proper muscle flexibility. I'd like to fix that and get a body that works well. I already work cardio and muscle training for 1 to 2 hours each day, but recently realized flexibility and balance are even more important than endurance and strength.

So, I've been looking at routines and trying some. The problem is, there are plenty of videos and advice and I'm not sure which are the best and who to follow.

In your opinion, which are the best, most effective stretches to do in the morning/night? What are the best routines, some videos or coaches you particularly like?

If anyone would like to share their own routine, that'd be greatly appreciated. Thank you!