middle series exercise question

In the middle split course there is an exercise where we lay on our backs legs straight toes towards the sky and we begin by scissoring the legs one extends towards the ground and one towards the head then make large circles with the legs. I find i get a lot of snapping in the front of the hips and if I continue it causes quite a bit of discomfort. How do I get around this? thanks

Hi Maja, this is a common problem when one legs pass from a position of hips extended and external rotation to a position of hips flexed and internal rotation. Actually, this snap if used too much can lead to psoas bursitis. the more the exercise is done slowly the slower is the transition of the psoas. The snapping, in this case, occurs because the psoas is stretched out while is squeezed, in case of tight psoas the probability of snapping increases. how is your front split?

Front leg left is better than right but both need improvement as I'm not touching the floor. Should I focus on opening up my hip flexors for now and omit the exercise that causes snapping of psoas tendon?

THanks for your help :-)

Perform the "flairs" that are the exercise you are referring to more slowly and with a control of the posterior pelvic tilt.

I would also like to see your front split.

ok I will try that thank you for your help. attached is my front splits.

5 hours ago, Maja Duncan said:

ok I will try that thank you for your help. attached is my front splits.

these pics tell me A LOT, your hips flexor are so tight!! and this can explain the pop sensation.

FIRST: add a daily work (one exercise) for hips flexor.

SECONDS: peform the front split variation like above always with PPT.

Ok so just to clarify- for part one do a hip flexor stretch daily and then part two- what is PPT?

Looks like right side is tighter than left, but I'll let coach confirm that. I'm still working on my coaching eye, and with a different specialty.

PPT is Posterior Pelvic Tilt. Your hips are tilting forward, but a PPT tilts the other way. Picture the hollow position for your hollow rocks/holds, the hips must do PPT to get your lower back to the floor for these movements... so belly tight, straighten out the lower back,  pulling the lower ribs and points of your hips closer together. Does that make sense? I'm doing it better than explaining it!

5 hours ago, Maja Duncan said:

Ok so just to clarify- for part one do a hip flexor stretch daily and then part two- what is PPT?

PPT is the posterior pelvic tilt that is the hip positioning you must hold all the time.

Hey Alessandro

I'm also having a lot of problems with very very tight hip flexors and Quads.

In terms of a daily stretch, what should the intensity and duration of these stretches be?

I'm currently doing gb unlimited and perform the stretch series' once per week.

Thanks!

You should choose a couple of exercises where you are so tight and perform them more frequently, the intensity should be definitely lower.

No problem! Thank you!

For anyone interested in this topic I found a thread that goes into more depth regarding my question.

I'll tag it for anyone who finds this and is interested.

On 7/18/2018 at 11:05 AM, Maja Duncan said:

In the middle split course there is an exercise where we lay on our backs legs straight toes towards the sky and we begin by scissoring the legs one extends towards the ground and one towards the head then make large circles with the legs. I find i get a lot of snapping in the front of the hips and if I continue it causes quite a bit of discomfort. How do I get around this? thanks

@Maja Duncan if you have a running background, whether you ran track, played soccer, etc.—particularly as a teenager—then most likely you're going to have tight hip flexors. Not to worry, you're in good company, and are in the right place to correct that.

You might also find that your progress in the middle split series may be quicker than in the front split series. As a repeat offender who paid the price (i.e., by trying to "force things" before the body was ready) it would be best to take the long slow approach to correct the tightness in the hip flexors. 

As for the supine flairs, properly done, you should feel a burn in your core as well. I would even argue they work the abs more than they do the hip flexors, but that's just mho.