Seiza ankle position

   I just finished my 3rd front split session and was wondering about my ankle position on the seiza as the video's talk about keeping your ankles together.  I can put my ankles together prior to sitting back.

 but as I sit back they spread slightly

I can spread them out even more, but this is as close as I can get them.  Even if I push on them, I can't get them together.

Is this a flexibility issue or is this just the limit of my leg/ankle structure?  What do you recommend for my next seiza stretch?

Thanks,

Kurt

Hi Kurt, 

This is a tough stretch to keep the ankles together for sure. You are doing the correct thing and keeping them in line with the calf and not letting the ankles display out to far. 

On your next attempt go as deep into the stretch as you can keeping the heels squeezing together, if you dont feel the stretch you can lower down more and let them seperate the heels to how you showed in the picture. Just keep in mind you are always trying to sqeeze the heels together. 

This stretch is desinged to open up the front of the foot, your toe point. Feel free to send in a video/picture that shows the side view.

Hi Kurt, I didn t believe that was even possible to keep the heels togheter but it is! It happened the same to me at the beggining and for a whole year. But coach Everett told me to keep my heels togheter and just lowering as much as possible without separating the heels. I almost didn t feel any strecht by doing this and it was really hard, i was fighting for 2 minutes, but believe me that the strenght and the flexibility to keep the heels togheter will come. I have improved a lot in 2 months! Much more than in the previous 10 months.

Tanya and Antonio - Thanks for the feedback!!  I tried it tonight and I can get about half way down before the heels want to spread out.  I'll keep working on that scaling and see how I progress.

On October 29, 2017 at 3:01 PM, Antonio Alías Montoya said:

Hi Kurt, I didn t believe that was even possible to keep the heels togheter but it is! It happened the same to me at the beggining and for a whole year. But coach Everett told me to keep my heels togheter and just lowering as much as possible without separating the heels. I almost didn t feel any strecht by doing this and it was really hard, i was fighting for 2 minutes, but believe me that the strenght and the flexibility to keep the heels togheter will come. I have improved a lot in 2 months! Much more than in the previous 10 months.

Thanks @Antonio Alías Montoya I'm going to try this for a while (only in elevated seiza) and see what happens.

I got this from another thread in the forum, and it's been working well for me... I've been using a yoga strap around my ankles to keep the heels closer together. I think it's helping because last night it felt like I wasn't relying on (resisting) the strap as much as before.

Hi Guys,

I have the same issue with my ankles spreading apart.  I will try the techniques suggested.  Also, when doing this exercise, I feel more of a stretch in the front of my knee than in the ankle.  Does anybody else have this issue?  Is it normal or is my technique off?  I figured it might just be working out multiple mobility/tightness issues but want to double-check.

Thanks!

Sam

SImply your quads are super tight.

Sit with a block between your upper and lower legs. Resting it on your heels. This allows for your bodyweight to lock your heels in the correct position. Some people use a belt around the shins aswell, to keep the feet together. I've tried that and it does work really well. But I find the block to be a more fluid transition.

Hi,

i have the same issue keeping the heels together. When I sit down on my heels I can feel my femur head attempting to move in the socket if I keep the heels together. Trying to keep myself elevated enough to prevent the heels coming apart leads to no stretch in the foot. Is there a position I should be doing with my femur or leg to help with this?

It is very strange since the ankle and the knees are not directly connected. a possible situation could be a very strong limitation coming up from ankle to knee and then to hip. are you struggling on another exercise of front split course?