Squatted Seiza - Lifting up those Knees

How did the model showing the 120s squatted seiza, get her knees so high up?   I can't get my knees so high up.  

In time you will be able to, so don't fret.   Persevere.

Why does one model have splayed fingers (like doing a pushup on your finger tips)  but another model is on her knuckles (like doing a pushup with your fists, to complete the comparison, I guess)?  Which way is better?  

 

Also,  do you feel it in your abs a lot when you do a squatted seiza?  Or is my focus wrong while doing this stretch? 

I think it's just a matter of preference, don't think any way is better. 

 

You should feel it in the front of the ankles (and the toes, if you're not used to this).

 

Maybe with the knees lowering too much your abs have to work more to mantain position, but I'm not sure. You probably have to keep working at it. Flexibility is slow to improve.

I also have difficulty performing this one like the athlete in the vid.  I think its related to poor lumbar mobility and / or poor biomechanics between the lumbar and hips.  This issue is plaguing me in the MN / PE1 as well.

When I do this stretch I start to shake and loose strength in my shoulders which are keeping me up. Can someone help.

Put the hands beside or in front of the knees and think pull back instead of up. That puts the weight in the legs more than the arms, which means the abs don't have to do so much work either. Once the knees are up high, the position is actually easier to hold strength wise, assuming the mobility is there. Keeping fingers straight or using blocks makes the arm longer, again making it easier to hold yourself up. Nothing wrong with that at all, especially if it helps get a better stretch.

You definitely need to get some yoga blocks to use for this one.  I travel a lot, so usually I'll use something in the hotel room to hold onto.  Anyone have a video of them scaling it with blocks?

Thank you both. I have some yoga blocks

i kind of do a pseudo "frog stand" by putting my knees against my elbows and rest them there.

OK! Stretch was INTENSE. My ankle flexibility is terrible. I managed to keep the position for about 40 seconds before it was too much.

Little by little.

What I do when I simply do not have any energy is I simply put something underneath my knees ( blocks / foam roller), and in some ways I feel i can better relax into the stretch since i'm not struggling to keep myself upright with my comparatively short arms.

 

You can scale the angle that you make w/ your ankles and the floor and can make measurable increases with the amount of support, instead of just sticking your knees into the air and trying to remember where they were last week, and the week before that.

Thanks for the tip JaredL. Bring it on!