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Started by Alexander Egebak, October 2, 2014 · 4 Replies · 278 Views
What is the best way to increase strength and active flexibility in a straddle position.
I know I will spend a lot of time when I progress to MN PE2 because my straddle is so bad.
Swivel hips is not much of a problem anymore except for the first set where I have to press hard through the range of motion but when warm I have acceptable ROM in that exercise.
Google Thomas Kurz. He has a lot of techniques for strengthening this position.
Basically; abductor flys, swinging kicks, deep squat and horse stance.
Listen to Murray -- he's fighting the straddle battle. I've been fortunate enough to have a pretty natural straddle, so I don't have the same learning experience as others.
Kit Laughlin has a "Mastering the Pancake" series out too. It's more focused on the passive flexibility side.
I'm finding Side to Side squats to be very helpful too. Pretty much anything that gets your legs apart and moves you through ROM is good. Find a tight position and work through it.
My favorite straddle stretch:
Dynamic and fast flexibility, in my opinion, is not the best method for that goal. You accelerate your legs at the beginning, but you are not doing active strength at the shortening ROM, that is what you want to get in Active Compression. Training the Pancake for having less resistance by in the antagonist muscles and doing Isometric Active Hold in the shortening ROM is more useful. You can do it with your back on on the wall, yo can do it trying to imitate the last part of straddle-V ups while balancing on the floor... the important thing is that you have to imitate the ROM and the kind of muscle contraction.
Thank you, will look into it