Butterfly + Supine Flair

Hi!

2 questions :

1. In butterfly, where do we have to feel the stretch while bending forward? I'm not very flexible and sitting on a yoga block while bending makes only my knees raise a bit (keeping the stretch ) and put pressure on my feet.  I can't get in APT by the way.

2. In supine flair, while turning my legs, I feel some creak in my adductors, why is it?  And I have hard times keeping my legs up while in flexion due to, I suppose, tight hamstrings and lack of abs strength, do you suggest something about this?

Thank you!

Hi Etienne, can you post a video of your butterflies?

for you supine flair they can be gracilis adhesion (very common), and yes you have tight hamstring (front split course helps here) and weak hips flexor.

I'm also struggling to even get into APT while bending forward in pancake, even on yoga blocks. I have been training the middle split on and off for about a year and progress has been very slow.

The Pancake Roll Through stretch gives me a very distinct tightness sensation where the Gracialis is located. The sensation crosses the knee joint inside of the leg, which also points to the Gracialis.

Now I'm wondering if manual therapy or self massage could help with this "tightness" or possibly adhesion" of the muscle.

There is a video by Kit Laughlin where he grips the the Gracialis and apparently loosens the adhesion by displacing the muscle relative to the underlying structures. Have you ever experienced this kind of manual intervention? Is it effective? Is it save?

Also, how would I go about searching for a therapist who could do this? Is there any school of thought, method, which teaches this kind of intervention?

Thanks in advance for you help!

Hi Roman,

Sit as high as necessary to achieve APT in the pancake. This may be two or more blocks for now, but the elevated position will allow you to get into a proper stretch and ultimately increase your progress. 

Send in videos of your position if you are unsure.

Finding a local sports physiotherapist to manually work on your specific tension in the gracilis, if it still exists after you change your position, is a good idea. Manually therapy may be a good way to help your situation. 

On 2017-5-21 at 2:46 PM, Alessandro Mainente said:

Hi Etienne, can you post a video of your butterflies?

Hi! Here's the form check:

Thanks!

During the butterfly stretch, the tension must be perceived in the groin especially adductors, in the case of tight posterior capsule you can feel it in the glutes. knees tend to move higher because adductors are stretched more in this position. before trying to bend forward trying to reach the lowest position with the knees. Generally speaking, you should pass the biggest amount of time trying to reach the floor in the standard butterfly position and add daily 1-2 minutes of the piriformis.

1 hour ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

During the butterfly stretch, the tension must be perceived in the groin especially adductors, in the case of tight posterior capsule you can feel it in the glutes. knees tend to move higher because adductors are stretched more in this position. before trying to bend forward trying to reach the lowest position with the knees. Generally speaking, you should pass the biggest amount of time trying to reach the floor in the standard butterfly position and add daily 1-2 minutes of the piriformis.

Understood, I'll work on those!

Is it possible that the tight glutes can affect the hamstring stretches, particularly the APT?

Hey Etienne,

Yes, tight glutes can definitely affect hamstring flexibility. Alex's suggestion from above regarding piriformis stretching is a great solution. 

7 hours ago, Étienne Lajeunesse said:

Understood, I'll work on those!

Is it possible that the tight glutes can affect the hamstring stretches, particularly the APT?

Absolutely yes.