Increase Straddle Up Mobility

Hey everyone, I was following foundations 1 and reached the Straddle Up progression for the Manna. What is the best way I can increase my mobility for this movement. My legs don't go nearly as high as the demo, and I always have a hard time keeping my chest from caving in and my back straight.

I have the same issue, I can't open my legs wide enough AND get them near the chest. They are nowhere near the chest.

learning to be honest with yourself and hinging at the hip instead of bending in the spine will yield some great results in the mobility department. I found this small change took my windmill to an earlier stage but also gave me some room to improve in it. 

Piriformis stretches have also boosted the hip hinge for me, you should give that a go after your Foundation workout is done or before in your warm up to limber. what progression are you in SLS? because Cossack Squats and Side to Side squats help the legs apart position in the straddle.

Keilani Gutierrez said:

learning to be honest with yourself and hinging at the hip instead of bending in the spine will yield some great results in the mobility department. I found this small change took my windmill to an earlier stage but also gave me some room to improve in it. 

Piriformis stretches have also boosted the hip hinge for me, you should give that a go after your Foundation workout is done or before in your warm up to limber. what progression are you in SLS? because Cossack Squats and Side to Side squats help the legs apart position in the straddle.

Keilani, does that mean that the straddle up should be started by focusing on not rounding the back, and instead, thinking about using a flat back to pull your trunk and legs to each other?

I'm not a native speaker, so I had to google what a hip hinge was, and I think it's having a flat back?

If  the problem is flexibility in the legs (not wide open enough to the sides and not able to get them to chest), I found someone else suggesting weighted pancage stretches for that (http://youtu.be/pag3VQPGWJw?t=20s )

JonasPortugal said:

Keilani, does that mean that the straddle up should be started by focusing on not rounding the back, and instead, thinking about using a flat back to pull your trunk and legs to each other?

 

I'm not a native speaker, so I had to google what a hip hinge was, and I think it's having a flat back?

 

If  the problem is flexibility in the legs (not wide open enough to the sides and not able to get them to chest), I found someone else suggesting weighted pancage stretches for that (http://youtu.be/pag3VQPGWJw?t=20s )

enough rounding that you are still maintaining a tucked tail, because the goal is compression, not exactly stretching your lower back, it's more of a motion that brings your hip "through" your legs. you still will be doing your best to pull your ribcage down into your pelvis but not enough where you're hunching, which is what a caved chest is. i'm going off what i've seen other people posting, so don't take it as what you have to do specifically. you might need a different approach, thats why pictures help. I have noticed that ever since i started stretching piriformis and focusing on hinging at the hip to stretch into my pike, it's been showing when i try to do it actively, which is what the beginning manna PE's show us, to engage the abs and glutes for PPT and hip flexors/quads for the leg compression. pancake and pike flexibility has been solely focusing on that good hinge at the hip, which is hip flexion. 

Right, I guess you can't do a straddle-up without rounding your back, but your point is that thinking about a straight back will help you in the movement?

My legs, I feel they barely leave the ground, heh, maybe 20 cm off of it and I can't spread them wide enough. I've seen some gymnasts getting their legs up to their chest, it's crazy. I'd just like to be able to get them more up and wide.

So for you, the piriformis stretches helped when doing the straddle-up? I've read that cossac squats also help, as you mention in your post as well.

hamstring, piriformis, inner thighs. side to side squats are also a perfect time to keep your torso stable and focusing on keeping that butt low. you'll start seeing changes in your straddle pretty quickly, while you're building up your jefferson curl. i'd say give your windmill a look as well, take video of it or pictures of the portion where you reach for the floor. if you roll your back while doing windmills, you can highlight if you really mastered it or appear to have. we want that flexibility in the hamstrings, after all