My wife's extreme pigeon-toed-ness in seal stretch...

My wife can do a DEEP seal stretch if she allows her heels to separate (pictured).  Her feet are together near the toes.  She is comically pigeon-toed and mildly knock-kneed.

 

When she forces her heels together (pictured), she feels the stretch much more in her lower back, and cannot sink as deep into the stretch.  She describes it as "a totally different stretch".

 

Can anyone advise whether she should stay with the version that gets her a deep seal stretch, or work on doing this stretch with heels together?

 

Any help much appreciated.

Point of seal stretch is to stretch out the abdominals, which is the completely opposite side of the lower back

Neither of them are all that deep, in reality.

 

The turning in  of the feet and widening of the legs allows her to take it out of her hip flexors and settle into her lower back. This shows itself in the way her butt sticks up, as the tailbone rolls down the line from lower back to butt will flatten and hips press the ground.

 

Since we'd like this to go into the hop flexors and upper back/chest. At this stage, I'd first start by having here try to stretch out from the pit of her belly and work on posterior pelvic tilt. Once she understands that then point the feet. As that gets good, bring the legs together.

Sorry, I should have made it clear that her seal stretch is deep compared to my zombie-esque, extra-concrete-y stretch.   Yes, my version is more like "dead cod" than it is like "seal".

 

Thanks for feedback, Alan and Cole.  Much appreciated.