iM question

It's brutal.  I'm not a very flexible person to begin with, but I don't think I'll be able to progress at all except for the RC section at the end of my first cycle.  I actually think it may take multiple cycles or never happen at all.

I'm a very positive person and think in my mind that I can eventually get there, but are there some people that no matter how much work they do will never get to the point of mastering the iMs as shown in the videos?  For instance I might be stuck on stiff-legged windmills and german arm swings for 6 months +.  I hope not, but this is my fear.

I'm just concerned that I might be genetically limited and spinning my wheels forever.  I've known some Yoga instructors w/ over 10-20+ years of experience who are great teachers but cannot get into some positions due to a lack of required flexibility.  Now these are extreme positions, but some of these iMs seem like that to me.

Thanks

Are some people limited by the mechanics of their body? Yes. But this in my opinion is rare.

What I have found to be the culprit of decreased mobility is the decreased stimulus of the specific musculature. Your muscle is not used to the activation required to reach the full ROM in the given IM. In conjunction with this is your CNS. This takes time. Your body could be out of balance as well. Go see a chiropractor and kinesiologist perhaps.

Joshua Naterman will probably be able to give a better answer on this one.

reash44 said:

It's brutal.  I'm not a very flexible person to begin with, but I don't think I'll be able to progress at all except for the RC section at the end of my first cycle.  I actually think it may take multiple cycles or never happen at all.

 

I'm a very positive person and think in my mind that I can eventually get there, but are there some people that no matter how much work they do will never get to the point of mastering the iMs as shown in the videos?  For instance I might be stuck on stiff-legged windmills and german arm swings for 6 months +.  I hope not, but this is my fear.

 

I'm just concerned that I might be genetically limited and spinning my wheels forever.  I've known some Yoga instructors w/ over 10-20+ years of experience who are great teachers but cannot get into some positions due to a lack of required flexibility.  Now these are extreme positions, but some of these iMs seem like that to me.

 

Thanks

Consider adding some supplemental stretching exercises if you're worried. PNF stretching is very effective at quickly opening up your available range of motion. 

Hari_Seldon said:

Consider adding some supplemental stretching exercises if you're worried. PNF stretching is very effective at quickly opening up your available range of motion. 

If he picks the right ones then yes, but If he is out of balance all of the stretching in the world may be completely worthless. BTDT ... having pursued fixing my mobility issues for many years now, spending many thousands on various specialists, I am finally making some reaonable, incremental progress after having addressed a variety of issues including a leg length inequality and focusing on specific stretches to bring my body back into balance.

Many of these drills in F1 I was introduced to at a seminar in '09. Doing them at the time was not productive, but my experience is different this time around and I attribute that to the work I have put in to bringing my body into better balance. It has been a long journey. Whether this is the issue for the OP is something hard to discern with the information given.

- Chris

between you and me, I thought that was going to be my case with Swivel hips but alas, I made a discovery. my feet kept sliding out when I was doin them and wouldnt consistently work the appropriate ROM. so I included swivel hips in my warmup at a volume that wouldnt be too much to aggravate my hips since i suffered a hip injury some years ago

it is never a question of whether something is unattainable, if not how to adopt the type of thinking that can help you achieve it

Thanks for all the comments.  I was thinking of trying some PNF stretching, but I thought it was better to use that when you are closer to your final goal (e.g. within a couple inches of a split).   I'm not sure about chiropractors though, never had a good feel about them and have heard about 50/50 on good and bad experiences from people (I really hope this doesn't offend anyone, it's just been my gut feeling and experience talking with people.  If it works for a person that's great).  I'll keep plugging away on these and working some extra mobility drills.  It just might take me a little longer than everyone else.

reash44 said:

Thanks for all the comments.  I was thinking of trying some PNF stretching, but I thought it was better to use that when you are closer to your final goal 

It's best to use PNF all the time on whatever areas you'd like to develop flexibility. It's not a once-only trick that will add a bit to your ROM: it will help you consistently develop flexibility over time. 

reash44 said:

I'm not sure about chiropractors though, never had a good feel about them and have heard about 50/50 on good and bad experiences from people (I really hope this doesn't offend anyone, it's just been my gut feeling and experience talking with people.  If it works for a person that's great).

The thing about chiropractors is that they can sometimes achieve what appears to be amazing results depending on what is impinged and needing to be re-aligned due to all of the nerves along the spine that can be affected. However, a good number offer up no help on why you got that way in the first place or what you can do to prevent it. Very seldom is it a freak occurrence and so, without addressing the weaknesses, most are likely to end up in the same state again. IMO that is why we hear such mixed results on chiropractors.

- Chris