Day 1 - middle split series

Wow , that is all 

I have such a loooooooooooong road ahead. I'm glad no one was watching my attempt as im sure it was comical.....

It would be great to interact with others in a similar position so we can feel each other's pain quite literally ...

That said, I'm  excited that I'm part of this GST journey and just wished I'd started sooner ...

I know that feeling Leigh.

I started the middle split and front split series around the start of September.  The first month was absolutely brutal for me.  I really appreciate the technique tip videos.  Have you found these?  In them, Wesley has some great pointers regarding how to scale the stretches for those of us who are built out of stone.  

Make sure you take some pictures of your current state of flexibility so you have something to look back upon once your chest has hit the ground in a full pancake.  

I'm already starting to notice some good changes in my flexibility.  It's all about noticing the small milestones and developing some long term patience.  

Keep at it!

Hi Leigh,

Trust me, you aren't the only one that feels that way when you stretch. I know that's how I feel a lot of the time haha. Keep working hard and you will be able to look back see the hurdles you have overcome in your flexibility!

Leigh, today was my session 12… just finished it. Finally now I am starting to really enjoy. A big breakthrough. Touching my chest down in the pancake. I feel finally getting looser… If you think about it, 12 weeks is not that long  (looking back now). You will see great progress along the way. I was just like you the first time, like "Holy poop"  LOL  Now the middle split is something I really look forward to. You will too

To put into perspective - I have been doing the stretch series for 1,5 years (started not long after they came out) and have seen good progress but I'm still not able to touch my chest to the floor in pancake.  Getting there after 12 weeks seems to me very, very quick progress - at least if you start out as inflexible as I was.

But the mantra still stands: consistency will get you there !   But your rate of progress cannot be forced I guess.

Good luck!

20 hours ago, Iain McLean said:

I know that feeling Leigh.

I started the middle split and front split series around the start of September.  The first month was absolutely brutal for me.  I really appreciate the technique tip videos.  Have you found these?  In them, Wesley has some great pointers regarding how to scale the stretches for those of us who are built out of stone.  

Make sure you take some pictures of your current state of flexibility so you have something to look back upon once your chest has hit the ground in a full pancake.  

I'm already starting to notice some good changes in my flexibility.  It's all about noticing the small milestones and developing some long term patience.  

Keep at it!

21 hours ago, Leigh Kettle said:

Wow , that is all 

 

 

I have such a loooooooooooong road ahead. I'm glad no one was watching my attempt as im sure it was comical.....

It would be great to interact with others in a similar position so we can feel each other's pain quite literally ...

That said, I'm  excited that I'm part of this GST journey and just wished I'd started sooner ...

Great to hear from you Iain.

Yes it's a great idea to do the photos,  I've already taken a couple so I can see where I am progressing etc .

Yes I found the technique videos thank you  and these will definitely help me for my next session. 

Incidentally, I read that the stretch session should be done once a week. Is there any detriment to doing maybe twice a week or is there a specific reason we should only be doing it the once 

13 hours ago, Jeffrey Bittner said:

Hi Leigh,

Trust me, you aren't the only one that feels that way when you stretch. I know that's how I feel a lot of the time haha. Keep working hard and you will be able to look back see the hurdles you have overcome in your flexibility!

Thank you Jeffrey appreciate your kind words and will definitely be working hard to progress with this . 

12 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

Leigh, today was my session 12… just finished it. Finally now I am starting to really enjoy. A big breakthrough. Touching my chest down in the pancake. I feel finally getting looser… If you think about it, 12 weeks is not that long  (looking back now). You will see great progress along the way. I was just like you the first time, like "Holy poop"  LOL  Now the middle split is something I really look forward to. You will too

Wow Suzanne that's amazing . I doubt this timescale will be similar for me lol as I have a lot of work to do . Thank you for your support 

9 hours ago, Koenraad Van Leemput said:

To put into perspective - I have been doing the stretch series for 1,5 years (started not long after they came out) and have seen good progress but I'm still not able to touch my chest to the floor in pancake.  Getting there after 12 weeks seems to me very, very quick progress - at least if you start out as inflexible as I was.

But the mantra still stands: consistency will get you there !   But your rate of progress cannot be forced I guess.

Good luck!

 

Thank you koenraad appreciate your support. I'm incorporating this with foundation one and handstand 1 and am already overjoyed I made the decision to come to GST . 

7 hours ago, Leigh Kettle said:

Incidentally, I read that the stretch session should be done once a week. Is there any detriment to doing maybe twice a week or is there a specific reason we should only be doing it the once 

In either the follow along for the middle split or front split series, Coach briefly says that the stretch series should only be completed once per week.  I don't know the nuts and bolts of why, but he gives the impression that any more frequently just results in spinning your tires.  In terms of long term results, consistency seems to trump upping the frequency per week.  It does seem acceptable to add a few of your favourite stretches/ones that you are tight in to a limbering protocol.  After my foundation workouts I personally complete a forward pike fold, a pancake variation and some quad specific goodness as god only knows I need help there.

Yes Iain this is great advice thank you. For now I only have the middle split series but will be obtaining them all soon enough, I'm already finding the foundation sessions getting tougher, goes to show my 3 years yraining calisthenics have been so flawed .

@Leigh Kettle how is your progress?  I just finished my 2nd middle stretch day.  I have a long way to go.  It's a cool feeling when you get done and your legs are all loose though.

If you could I would see if there is a stretching class near by you. I went to one and the partner stretch we did in it really accelerated my progress in middle split. Also just stay consistent and enjoy the journey. I regret every time I've missed a session because it seems to take back two or three weeks of progress.

Only one thing better then stretching... Someone stretching you! 

On 11 January 2017 at 0:55 AM, Malcolm Watters said:

@Leigh Kettle how is your progress?  I just finished my 2nd middle stretch day.  I have a long way to go.  It's a cool feeling when you get done and your legs are all loose though.

Hey Malcolm .how are you?

I am loving the stretch series . I now have both the middle split and thoracic series and already am seeing progress in both. Still a loooooong way to go but absolutely love this whole training and community .

How you getting on mate ?? I'm definitely feeling better in my foundation work also for example my stiff legged windmill is improving as I've had trouble with this from day 1 . 

Incidentally to guys on the forum  (and off topic ) there used to be a like button on posts. Has this been replaced by a green arrow as I don't really understand if by pressing it I was liking comments . Also the reputation thing????  Could someone  please clarify this ? 

I would like to add that also if you get further and better along with the Foundation Series, your Stretch Series will also be much more better. All GB Courses works in harmony together. 

I just went through middle stretch today for the first time. Leigh, I was quickly humbled! 

I purchased Front stretch several months back, but haven't been consistent in my training so I hadn't picked up the other stretch courses. Since realizing how my hips ROM is going to really slow down my Foundation SLS progress, I decided it was time to add the rest of the stretch series.

The tip about how FL core work will help in this series was clear to me today, I felt the stiff leg windmill was simply too much strain on my low back because my core strength isn't there yet. I will just scale those back like the rest of the stretches. 

Coach - I was amazed by all the new stretches and look forward to repeating these over and over.  Thank you!

I do all three stretch series and have never felt better and am seeing definite progress in my overall mobility and flexibility . Ok it's small but for me they feel huge . Can only wish I'd started this a whole lot sooner 

Awesome guys, looking forward to see your flexibility gains  

I was going to start a new thread mirroring your exact feelings after my session.  It was tough and I didn't even do the full workout.   I reduced the time on some stretches as I am learning the cues.  To give you an idea where I am at, I struggle to keep in APT even when sat on a block and my legs are less than 90 degrees open. I have a grasp of most positions or at least how to reduce the difficulty apart from the the vertical frog.  I can kind of get into position but only if I hold something sturdy in front to stop me toppling over.  Is that acceptable?

Hey joshua

i use a block under the glute of the straight Leg in order to sit up straight and therefore stop from falling. Are you doing that too?

leigh 

17 hours ago, Leigh Kettle said:

Hey joshua

i use a block under the glute of the straight Leg in order to sit up straight and therefore stop from falling. Are you doing that too?

leigh 

Didn't even think of that but great idea.  I will try it out next week.  I can remember been at this stage starting out the front split and have made some progress so looking forward to see where the middle split stretches will take me.

51 minutes ago, Joshua Hibbert said:

Didn't even think of that but great idea.  I will try it out next week.  I can remember been at this stage starting out the front split and have made some progress so looking forward to see where the middle split stretches will take me.

Good luck joshua

with you saying you hadn't thought of that idea have you not seen the scaling videos in the course library (that are now included in thenfollow along videos) that's where I spend a lot of time as believe me I need some scaling lol 

here wesley explains all the scaling versions Of each stretch if you are struggling 

all the best mate 

leigh 

On 2017-5-13 at 9:04 AM, Leigh Kettle said:

Good luck joshua

with you saying you hadn't thought of that idea have you not seen the scaling videos in the course library (that are now included in thenfollow along videos) that's where I spend a lot of time as believe me I need some scaling lol 

here wesley explains all the scaling versions Of each stretch if you are struggling 

all the best mate 

leigh 

Thanks Leigh.

I have seen them, I basically watch those videos and then set the timer and run through that list in the library instead of doing the follow along video.  I will probably be doing that 3 or 4 more times till I get more comfortable with each exercise.  There's a lot of new information so I must of just missed it.

Hey Leigh and Joshua especially, I am right there with you guys. Had a short period where I did it without consistency but I have prioritized this now and am starting fresh again myself. I have a lot of tightness in the hammies and one yoga block isn't enough to sit in straddle with APT. I simply haven't been able to do it. One thing I noticed however is that there appears to be muscles deep within the lumbar region that feel as if they've been flexed whenever I am attempting to sit up tall in straddle. Thus, I'm am chalking it up to not only tight hamstrings but weak spinal extensors. In a four week period this had started to improve a lot....however for me there is one concern. I need to be attempting to sit in straddle every day for the muscles in the back to get used to flexing to sit up tall and for the hamstrings to loosen some....but I also don't want to be breaking the protocol for doing the series once per week. If I am doing straddle sits daily and its a bit of a workout for me due to limited initial flexibility, is that going to inhibit my progress on middle split days? Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Apart from the sitting tall in straddle, I had a couple of weeks where there was pain in the inside of the knee, which resolved by scaling. Overall, it really really is the small weekly gains (and sometimes we're talking incredibly small gains) that keep me wanting more. Do any of you who are doing the front and middle split feel like this is too much? These programs are meant to be done together....I'm presuming? I'd like to make sure my flexibility in all directions about the hip see improvement rather than just within the coronal plane.

Also, the suggestion about to find a local group and stretch with a partner..thats great advice. I don't know if anyone is in Kansas City, but I'm moving there this August to do my master's in anatomy and I'd love to meet with people if anyone is there to help move the gains forward and motivate each other. Just a thought