Huge plateau with butterfly stretch/cross legged pose

Hi everyone. So I do bjj, but my flexibility is really bad. Last summer I made it a goal to work toward a full butterfly stretch and full lotus for my hip mobility. I started sitting cross legged around the house and holding a butterfly stretch for 30 minutes each day. I also began deadlifting and squatting (butt to floor) 3 times per week to improve strength. I stopped lifting in the early winter. For months I added weights to my butterfly stretch and did loaded progressive stretching 3 days per week, followed by finishing up the 30 minutes each day. Then I began alternating loaded stretching with pnf stretching. I began stretching my piriformis for 15 minutes each side every day. All while stretching during bjj. In the new year i started the GB stretch series, thinking maybe I need to loosen the system as a whole. On my off days i do a full hip/leg limber. I've made very small but visible gains with the stretch series, but my butterfly/cross legged poses are still just as bad as the day I started Last summer. I can bring my feet into my groin but my knees are by my chest and my lower back is rounded. Sitting cross legged my knees are by my upper abs and I feel a stretch/discomfort in my outer hips. Even now I'm lying down in a supine cross legged pose, with my knees high in the sky. I dont think i have a hip impingement, as my glutes are flexible and i can bring my knees up into my chest with no issues. With bent legs i can make my knees touch the floor by my shoulders lying down. I'm at a total loss. Any help would be much appreciated!

TLDR: I've consistently (5-7) days per week put in work toward a full butterfly stretch and sitting cross legged with my knees comfortably on the ground. I've made zero gains in 10 months.

Michael, you have simply to do a daily work on the piriformis pose of the stretch series. nothing more. doing the butterfly 24 hours a day will not solve the problem.

Hi Alessandro, thanks for your reply. My daily limber since late December includes 30 seconds of the piriformis pose, as well as 30 seconds of thread the needle pose.

Are your muscles relaxed when you stretch them? It's much better (enjoyable and effective) to stretch relaxed muscles vs tight muscles. It can take time to relax fully when stretching, and it takes active mental effort to focus and relax the target muscles. You might start with reduced ROM at the beginning, but as you are warmed up and be able to relax more, your ROM should increase gradually while you are stretching. Do you experience this when you stretch? Or do you rather hang passively, and start & finish the stretch with the same ROM?

9 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Michael, you have simply to do a daily work on the piriformis pose of the stretch series. nothing more. doing the butterfly 24 hours a day will not solve the problem.

I can vouch for this. It's all piriformis. Relax/stretch the glutes. 

Jin Liu, i try to breathe and relax further into each stretch in the stretch series. It's hard to open up my straddle more, as my legs simply hit a point where they stop moving outward, but pancake and pike work I usually finish the session with more rom than at the beginning. When i was doing loaded stretching/pnf for butterfly, i would finish with my knees a few inches lower than at the start, but I would wake up and constantly start at the same ROM and finish at the same ROM  each day. I guess I need to hit my piriformis/outer hips harder. When i sit cross legged I feel my glute med. And TFL get super flexed and tight automatically, even if I'm just relaxing reading a book. I don't even know how to consciously flex them.