GB Members' Pancake Progress

Hi GB Community,

I am curious how long it takes to get adequate pancake mobility and how it is going for everyone's current progress. 

My son started out tight last year but started some gymnastics stuff and now has decent pancake mobility. Thoughts as to how it looks?

You are not in the minority. You have made good progress. Keep it up.

Mark Collins said:

You are not in the minority. You have made good progress. Keep it up.

Thank you very much Sir,

As you know, it is rare to see our patients for the length of time it takes to realize true gains in connective tissue; especially the ROM progress extended beyond the pain-free physiological limits of a joint in the 6-12 month time frames.

That is why I started this post...

I am curious from a research stand point, the speed of progress in these positions when combining the stretch series, foundation, and handstand.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Anybody reach full pancake, split, or bridge within 1-2 years, when previously tight?

When my son started gymnastics early last year, he was tight and could not do bridges or good pancakes. Going to the gymnastics studio didn't really help this (he left because the methods weren't working for him and were ingraining terrible form that he is still reversing, they did work for some though). After doing GB and some basic mobility/flexibility work he got a decent pancake, and a bridge. He almost has all of his splits.

Basically, they would do, say 1 minute bridge holds. But the actual thoracic spine mobility and hip flexors were not worked. Similarly, deficiencies in flexibility for the splits were not properly addressed. We don't have the stretch series, but he used some middle split holds and the horse stretch, as well as the butterfly and frog stretches for the middle splits. Similarly, he did weighted stretches and lunges and stuff for front splits. Essentially their program was not elaborate enough with regards to mobility, which meant significant problems were faced in strength work. I would say that my son is naturally more flexible than average, but has his own deficiencies (hip flexors and shoulders)

Ryan Bailey said:

 

Example:

6 months ago, pathetically tight, trouble sitting in straddle without using my hands.

 

 

Hi,

7 months ago I needed to sit on 3 stretching blocks to do the work. Now I am somewhere close as you are Depending on the day, I might be able to get lower, the other day not, it fluctuates to some degree but I am happy with my progress I see progress every two or three MSS workouts. I would say that we can get to the full pancake by the end of 2016

Vytautas Pilkauskas said:

Hi,

 

7 months ago I needed to sit on 3 stretching blocks to do the work. Now I am somewhere close as you are Depending on the day, I might be able to get lower, the other day not, it fluctuates to some degree but I am happy with my progress I see progress every two or three MSS workouts. I would say that we can get to the full pancake by the end of 2016

Nice goal, we will see!

However long it takes, it takes, right? I think many of us have limited pancake mobility, just look at all the MN PE2 threads. MIne certainly needs a lot of work. You have the middle split stretch series? My last session was a nice improvement. I managed to switch from elevated surface to floor. I've only been back at it for a couple months now after I returned from travels abroad. I also used a weight on my back to assist the pancake work for the first time and it seemed to really help.

Vytautas Pilkauskas said:

 I see progress every two or three MSS workouts. I would say that we can get to the full pancake by the end of 2016

This is an interesting observation. I have noticed good ROM jumps every few hard stretch sessions in each course so far. Always a welcome surprise.

Time will vary depending on how stiff someone is, how long they have been stiff for and their everyday movement. I would expect that for stiff adults it would take several years. Interestingly atvthe the Crossfit gym where I teach mobility the stiffest are the teenagers. They struggle just sittingbin straddle let alone getting some form of a pancake.

I've been doing F1 since May 2014, and all 3 stretch courses since they came out a year ago, and my progress on the middle split has been pretty slow. This is where I'm at now:

Also, still very far away from completing one rep of MN/PE2 properly.

I'm glad to hear that other people are progressing slowly with this one ... it's encouraging that I'm not the only one!

Has anyone on this thread mastered MN/PE2 yet? And if so, how long did it take you?

Cam

I bought all of the stretch courses the day they were released, and I've followed them ever since (February 2015). I was just a tad bit lower than Cameron (above) when I first attempted a pancake. The picture below was me with my head to the floor for the first time (April 2015). I didn't get my chest to the floor until about the end of July.

These were taken last week on February 21st. I have my chest flat on the floor in both, but if I stick my arms out in front like in the left pic, my stomach is on the floor as well.

Dude! That is impressive. 

Gives me something to work towards 

I can easily keep my head on the floor after a few stretches and I'm working towards getting my chest down next. I don't go so wide that I can't grab my feet. What I've noticed is that even if I do only pike stretching before maxing out on the straddle I can nearly reach my straddle max on my first attempt. Took me about 11 weeks to get MN/PE2. I don't know how much middle split is related but it has also improved, still 25-30 cm to go.

Hang in there, Ryan and Cam. I think we all find some elements really hard. In my case it's the Fl progression. I'd trade some of my straddle rom to solid rocks ☺

57 minutes ago, Cameron Williams said:

Has anyone on this thread mastered MN/PE2 yet? And if so, how long did it take you?

No. I'm on bloc 1 for MN PE2. Good work Cam.

-Malik. Awesome! Do you mind sharing any supplimental stretch work you did if any?

18 minutes ago, Petri Widsten said:

I'd trade some of my straddle rom to solid rocks ☺

If I had something good enough, I'd trade for some straddle ROM 

Ryan

My pike flexibility is the best of any of the three. In pancake, my legs are somewhere between 45-90 degrees and I can get forearms down on the ground when warm. Thoracic is even worse (but we need not address that here). I've been on block one of MN/PE2 for some time. I've recently been working Hip Extensions (along will supine wall extensions, and overhand/underhand dislocates) at the end of my F7 workouts. I've noticed some decent increase (though minuscule, but in the scheme of working MN/PE2 minuscule progress is decent in my book) in my ROM after only a couple sessions. In ballet, I believe Hip extensions are called Adagios and they are hard! You can read up on how to do them here. I suggest everybody having a lot of issue with MN/PE2 give them a shot  Hope this helps at least a bit. It's slow goings, but slow progress is better than no progress.

3 hours ago, Ryan Bailey said:

 

-Malik. Awesome! Do you mind sharing any supplimental stretch work you did if any?

 

Sure thing! I lightly worked on my pancake and press handstands (straddle & pike) every day at school and home which helped keep me loosened up.

- Seated Good Mornings: hands behind my head. I focused on arching my lower back to get deeper.

- Isometric Pancake Hold: Once I didn't get anymore ROM in the good mornings, I would hold the bottom position with my torso off the floor, arms out to the side, and then to the front while holding a light weight and pulsing. The weight really helped me keep my back flat and maintain anterior pelvic tilt. Make sure you keep your legs turned outward; don't let them turn in.

- To help with anterior pelvic tilt, I would go as deep as possible and then place something in front of me. I would try to push the object farther and farther away until I couldn't reach it anymore. Next I'd go back down as low as I could and grab the bottom of my dresser and pull myself lower.

- Pancake Shoulder: I would go down to one side and focus on pulling my foot towards me to stretch my hamstrings more. Then I would walk my torso over to the other side passing through pancake while being as low as I could and did the same thing. I did that until I felt it was enough.

- Sometimes after my F7 workouts, I would hold weights behind my head and go down as deep as I could.

I never timed or counted reps for any of the exercises. I just listened to my body and stopped when I felt like it was enough.

Hope this helps!

Hi Everyone, I started this thread 1 year ago all concerned about how long things take to improve.  Things have changed...

I no longer care about time frames. 

Thought I'd share a picture of some improvement from riding out the wave of consistant, enjoyable practice. Greatful for the stretch series and Coach's message of patience.

Not quite where a GB member needs to be, but better than I ever thought for myself.

(Top pic: December 2015): All stretched out, max range after Middle Split Stretch series. At the time, I was happy to finally be able to sit comfortably with legs in straddle without my hip flexors and abs cramping)

(Lower pic: December 2016) A morning warm-up, not after a stretch session)

Thanks everyone for their inspiration.

Best of luck to another year of progress,

Ryan

Awesome!! I hope to post similar progress in the years to come. Just bought the pancake series now and can barely sit upright with a flat back ! 

Always had trouble even sitting with legs out in front with flat back too so that'll need to be addressed!

Fantastic progress Ryan, Inspirational stuff! 

Ryan - thanks for sharing this update. You don't know how badly I needed to see this inspiration today! Great work.

Oh, my god, is good to hear that there is improvement. At some stages, like mine, one think will never get to even sit on the ground. I started sitting on a bench (70 cm high) when I started just to be able to have flat back and couldn t barely lean forward. Now I am sitting in 2 blocks. My goal now is just to be able to sit on the ground, hahaha. 

Super amazing, Ryan. Congratulations!!!

great job on being consistent and thanks for posting an update. I find it hard to stay motivated when improvement is imperceptible but seeing your progress motivates me to persist.

Great work Ryan! Inspiring.