I've written an article about flexibility/mobility

http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/flexibility-mobility-and-range-of-motion-basics/

Hope this helps a few people with their training.  Happy for feedback too if you find something that is wrong or you disagree with!

Thank you, Craig. It is an interesting read.

Well, I learned something.

I'm going to read article this weekend (still at work now) but on the first look there is a minor tehnical issue: text is really hard to read on FF. Issue is arc.css (line 197): p { font-weight: 200 }

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Thanks guys, I've got a new design in the works which will be much easier to read!  Should be launching next week some time.

Thanks Craig! A great read that has changed the way I think about stretching. Good to learn a few things! Very well laid-out, easy to understand.

guys Josh Naterman has added some very interesting stuff into the comments, I suggest you all have a read if you haven't already!

Thanks for the article, usefull stuff! I need all the info I can get beacuse I 'm still as stiff as the piece of wood! And thanks to Joshua for a comment even though I saw his post about that here on forum

I have a few questions if you dont mind me posting them here...

I read/watched a lot of Kits stuff on youtube and here on the forum (as well as a lot of other posts/articles) and I spend 1h limbering 5d/week (one day is CR stretching) and I almost see no progress. It has been only two months, and I dont expect miracles but to see at least some progress would be motivational...

Specific wuestion is about pike. When I stretch hamstrings with bent legs I can really feel the stretch, but in pike, limiting factor is not a stretching sensation in hips/glutes or hamstrings but a pain I start to feel in both legs. This has something to do with sciatic nerve right? I do piriformus stretch daily. Any idea what is causing this pain? if you want I can post entire routine)

Its difficult to say without seeing you perform the stretches and limbering.  As my article suggests, so much of it has to do with frame of mind while you are performing the movements/stretches.  If you want rapid improvement, solo CR stretches arent really going to cut it, you need partner or loaded stretching. You obviously need to be careful with this and have a good understanding of what loads you are capable of taking without a teacher guiding you. I'd suggest looking into the weighted mobilities from foundation and h1, they are superb.

As for the pike stretch, its important to note the difference between pain and discomfort. Pain (as in an injury) is not something you want to be stretching through as it will just cause more issues, and your best bet is to visit a professional manual therapist to help you resolve it.  If it is discomfort caused by the stretching of the sciatic nerve, then you simple need to spend more time in the position, building both volume  and weight proportional to your ability, while focusing on relaxing the mind through the discomfort.  Something like the hanging pike from the stall bars or the weighted pike stretch should be suitable. Cueing breathing and relaxation of the face and the muscles under stretch will aid greatly to this movement. Also think of the sensation of the nerve stretch not as pain but rather as a sensation will help greatly too and allow you to rest a lot more into and through the discomfort.

Thanks for the answer Craig!

Pain was the wrong word to use, it is definitely a discomfort and I have recently incorporated weighted pike stretches! It is too soon to tell any progress from them, but I'll work on building the volume!

My conclusion from your article is that my mind thinks I'm a tree so I don't need any more flexibility

Let me know if I should start a new thread about this, but I feel like hijacking yours so....

Recently I've been considering the idea of weighted stretches in a new light.  I've been doing weighted dislocates, and when I tried a dislocate with an unweighted bar I had a greatly increase ROM over the same exercise with a weighted bar.  That, coupled with a recent post about how someone achieved a full split just by working weighted split squats, it got me thinking.  Would weighted exercises, taken to the edge of the ROM, produce access to even more ROM after the weight had been removed?

Specifically, I've already concluded that weighted dislocates and split squats will lead to substantially increased ROM.  What other exercises would be good to continue in this same vein?  I'm thinking good mornings might work, if the focus was on mobility rather than maximal strength.  And I'm still trying to figure out my way into a decent MN/PE2, but I can't figure out what kind of weighted work would help with that kind of exercise.

Maybe only certain kinds of body positions can be overloaded in this fashion.  I'm not sure....

mlaen said:

Thanks for the article, usefull stuff! I need all the info I can get beacuse I 'm still as stiff as the piece of wood! And thanks to Joshua for a comment even though I saw his post about that here on forum

I have a few questions if you dont mind me posting them here...

I read/watched a lot of Kits stuff on youtube and here on the forum (as well as a lot of other posts/articles) and I spend 1h limbering 5d/week (one day is CR stretching) and I almost see no progress. It has been only two months, and I dont expect miracles but to see at least some progress would be motivational...

Specific wuestion is about pike. When I stretch hamstrings with bent legs I can really feel the stretch, but in pike, limiting factor is not a stretching sensation in hips/glutes or hamstrings but a pain I start to feel in both legs. This has something to do with sciatic nerve right? I do piriformus stretch daily. Any idea what is causing this pain? if you want I can post entire routine)

If you've not got Kit's book I'd recommend it (again). In the lesson on hamstrings there are other stretches described to do before your hamstring stretch... these prep you for it and allow you to eek a bit more out of it by releasing tension elsewhere. Rather than use seated hamstring stretches I use Coach's weighted pike and hang down there for 2-3mins with 15kg. I find it takes at least a minute to get into the stretch before I feel like I'm getting anywhere with it. I initially get tightness in what feels like the sciatic nerve but that dissipates after about a minute and I can get into the muscle more.

It's really hard work doing these in a pike on the floor but once I've made a bit more progress they'll likely be easier for me to get into. Same for the pancake, much easier for to work it from a standing position when mobility is so bad and you can get more volume in that way. Seems to be doing the job