Active pike and straddle flexibility

[Guest]

Hi guys, first of all: great forum with lots of useful information! I came here through Ido Portal's website and I'm glad I found it.

I've been playing capoeira for about seven years now and although capoeira in itself has already provided me with a certain level of strength, flexibility, body awareness and sense of balance, I'm very interested to see what additional bodyweight, flexibility, mobility and 'flow' training can do for me. Ido's work has been an inspiration for me in this regard.

Anyway! I'm designing a bodyweight routine that suits my needs and while experimenting with some of the FSPs I found that my active pike and straddle flexibility are lacking a bit. In passive-flexible terms, I can easily put my hands flat on the floor while standing, and I have a straddle 'sit' with about a 140° angle between my legs. When performing a V-sit or straddle-L I cannot hold the same angles yet. This probably sounds familiar to some of you guys.

My question: if the passive flexibility and dynamic flexibility are already there, will I eventually be able to 'pull' my limbs into the desired position just by focusing on active contraction of the antagonists? Or will I need to perform additional exercises and if so, can you describe a few?

Thanks a lot!

[Blairbob]

http://drillsandskills.com/article/16

Look under assistance exercises.

[Guest]

Great! I'll have to try these... I'm guessing the main advantage of these exercises is that you can isolate the appropriate antagonists and hold the pike/straddle for a longer amount of time then you would when performing the V-sit or straddle-L. In other words: exactly what I was looking for

Generally speaking, would it be better to separate active stretching exercises from passive/dynamic stretching and perform them as part of a prehab routine, along with wrist work, shoulder and scapula ROM etcetera, or can they be integrated in a regular stretching routine? Or do you guys see stretching in general as a component of the prehab process?

[braindx]

Put them at the end of your workouts with your static flexibility work.

It's best to stretch your hamstrings and then alternate with these holds so you get the most benefit out of them.