Flexibility- What are the "Money" Exercises?

Strange title- I know.

When thinking of strength exercises, I call certain movements "money" exercises- ones that are staples of training programs and conducive to significant gains in strength. For example, a weightlifter's money exercises might be squats, bench press, and deadlift. A gymnasts might be the FSPs

So, are there equivalent exercises in flexibility? Maybe stretches that would be "compound," suitable for most skill levels, and staples of training programs.

If this sounds stupid, then its really just because I'm trying to start working on flexibility/joint preparation and I have no idea how to structure a program. If there aren't "money exercises," what should a beginner be doing?

Thanks

I''d say one of ido portal's shoulder/scapula series, wrist/ankle series, seal stretch, downward dog, pike, side splits, front splits, straddle pancake, and bridge. Maybe also some arm circles for shoulders or something

Flexibility training can get detailed if you want it to; I did, but not everyone will. It depends on what your goals are. The way I see it, to properly train for gymnastics work, looking long-term of course, you need to develop much greater than "normal" flexibility to really kick ass.

That being said, if you know absolutely nothing, you could go to a yoga class to learn lots of great static and active stretches. Also, if you start to dig into this forum, you will learn so much regarding flexibility and mobility that you will run out of time trying to do it all.

So definitely do some research here on the board. As you can see people have asked just about every question you can imagine. Also, I highly recommend reading Stretching Scientifically by Kurtz (got this from the recommended reading thread). It will help you design a program to do exactly what you want, and educate you a bit about the different types of flexibility there are, and how to acheive greater levels of each.

Some specific recomendations:

Slizzardmans shoulder stretches

Ido's programs

Mobility WOD

Coach's articles on dislocates, etc.

band traction

The program that Blairbob designed for ATG

Foam rolling/SMR

I dont have links, but I found all of these things through the board. Hope this helps!

element3904 said:

I''d say one of ido portal's shoulder/scapula series, wrist/ankle series, seal stretch, downward dog, pike, side splits, front splits, straddle pancake, and bridge. Maybe also some arm circles for shoulders or something

I'll have to try some of these- I'm pretty familiar with Ido's stuff, down dog, pike, and bridge, never done the rest

Archie Moses said:

Flexibility training can get detailed if you want it to; I did, but not everyone will. It depends on what your goals are. The way I see it, to properly train for gymnastics work, looking long-term of course, you need to develop much greater than "normal" flexibility to really kick ass.

That being said, if you know absolutely nothing, you could go to a yoga class to learn lots of great static and active stretches. Also, if you start to dig into this forum, you will learn so much regarding flexibility and mobility that you will run out of time trying to do it all.

So definitely do some research here on the board. As you can see people have asked just about every question you can imagine. Also, I highly recommend reading Stretching Scientifically by Kurtz (got this from the recommended reading thread). It will help you design a program to do exactly what you want, and educate you a bit about the different types of flexibility there are, and how to acheive greater levels of each.

Some specific recomendations:

Slizzardmans shoulder stretches

Ido's programs

Mobility WOD

Coach's articles on dislocates, etc.

band traction

The program that Blairbob designed for ATG

Foam rolling/SMR

I dont have links, but I found all of these things through the board. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the in depth reply! I have already searched the boards and come up with more information than I know what to do with (thus the focus on 'money' stetches). For shoulders I do Ido's and Slizzard's stetches, as well as SMR. I don't do dislocates because I'm not sure of my form. I did Coach's wall extensions yesterday and they felt great. And I just looked at Blairbob's program, it also looks good. Maybe I'll just start experimenting with these new stretches and see where it leads me.

Are there any specific yoga sequences/positions that you would recommend?

Thanks

For lower body flexibility my four "money" exercises are:

low lunge

runners "hurdle" stretch

lizard pose

half split

hold each for 5 long diaphragm breaths (breathe in low and deeply to expand the chest and then press against that to expand the back ribs)

The two most important are the bridge and the pike. Those are foundational in terms of function and joint balance, and you get more bang for your buck with these than anything else. These would be like squats and deadlifts: just as those are your two most productive lifts, these are your two most productive stretches.

Having said that, obviously they do not develop complete flexibility, but if they are done properly they lay the foundation for everything else and contribute substantially to your overall progress. Pretty much the same as the basic lifts.

Anything more specific almost has to be tailored to the activity in question. In terms of basic injury prevention, having your mobility developed as close to your passive flexibility as possible and being stable throughout that mobile range are the most important things, with the stability being the single most important. If you aren't stable in a position, you shouldn't be in that position. If you can not voluntarily control your body in a certain range of motion you should not be under load in that range of motion.

I fully agree with Slizz, if we're talking money its those two. add a good twist and you got the spine covered.

To give back some change, straddle, splits both ways, butterfly, up dog, down dog.

A lot of the prehab we do is more mobility than flexibility but nevertheless essential too.

Yoga pushup.

Pike/Seal(Cobra) not bridge. Bridge is great for shoulders. But a shitty bridge is a shitty bridge though I like a head bridge.

Kneeling lunge (Samson)

Butterfly

Pidgeon

Hang from a bar/rings and do straddle swings or hip circles

Rope inlocate/dislocates.

Froggy split (Side split on knees)

Reverse Hyper/Reverse(Superman) Leg lifts

Cat Stretch

Shoulder extension though a lot of this is stretched with stick/rope in/dislocates.

BB you are right that a bad bridge is a bad bridge, and cobra, shoulder bridge etc are prereqs for that. I never teach full bridge to my beginners, there is a lot of work we go through to get there. I rarely teach full pike to them either for the same reasons, though for most the full pike comes before the full bridge.

Since the question wasn't can i do or how do i do, but what are the premier exercises in their class, i can't' see anything other than bridge, pike, side split, and a good twist, everything else can be derived from those. Of course this can easily turn into one of those how many money poses can dance on the head of a pin things which is a total waste of time.

However, the bridge is much more than a shoulder exercise, it evolve complete extension of hips, spine, including thoracic and shoulders and is without doubt one of the premier exercises that everyone should strive to attain.

... just so you know Cole, we expect in-depth video tutorials for both the bridge and the pike progressions from you now!

But seriously, I would be very interested in getting a glimpse of the path you take with your students.

Blair or anyone else, what's the correct way to do the frog splits (center split on knees)? Whenever I seem to do it, it doesn't seem to be beneficial.

Blairbob said:

Pike/Seal(Cobra) not bridge. Bridge is great for shoulders. But a shitty bridge is a shitty bridge though I like a head bridge.

What makes a shitty bridge? I seem to learn more off of what not to do than just "look at me do this the right way."

TryMore said:

What makes a shitty bridge? I seem to learn more off of what not to do than just "look at me do this the right way."

Basically anythings that's not:

straight arms

straight legs

Arms in vertical line with chest, (90 deg to floor) sometimes chest can even be beyond hands.

face looking at hands continuing the arched alignment of the thoracic spine in this position.

Razz said:

TryMore said:

What makes a shitty bridge? I seem to learn more off of what not to do than just "look at me do this the right way."

Basically anythings that's not:

straight arms

straight legs

Arms in vertical line with chest, (90 deg to floor) sometimes chest can even be beyond hands.

face looking at hands continuing the arched alignment of the thoracic spine in this position.

Gotcha. Thanks for the solid check list.

All this talk of bridges, phew... I think bridge is one of those poses that will show you how deficient or proficient you are in some of your more basic stretching exercises. If you're wondering how "open" your shoulders are give bridge a shot to open your eyes. By that measure bridge is a good test to see how things are coming along. Can you keep your thighs parallel when in full bridge? What are your feet and knees doing? Head? After some good time working on my other stretches I can do a decent bridge but my arms are definately not straight.

I loathe pidgeon pose. It's got to be one of the most overused exercises and one that I worry about the most when I see people on the gym floor just drop into it without lots and lots of warmup.

Mr Brady said:

I fully agree with Slizz, if we're talking money its those two. add a good twist and you got the spine covered.

To give back some change, straddle, splits both ways, butterfly, up dog, down dog.

I was personally thinking that Slizz's "Big 2" missed the whole adductor region along with any sort of spinal twist. I mentally added "seated straddle twist" in my head, to cover all bases I could think of

Razz said:

TryMore said:

What makes a shitty bridge? I seem to learn more off of what not to do than just "look at me do this the right way."

Basically anythings that's not:

straight arms

straight legs

Arms in vertical line with chest, (90 deg to floor) sometimes chest can even be beyond hands.

face looking at hands continuing the arched alignment of the thoracic spine in this position.

At least for the folks i deal with mostly female, the main thing is if the bend is moving correctly though the spine, and that the legs and arms are engaged even if bent.

In the attempt to straighten the arms, is the body lifting off the arms, similarly to handstand, is the thoracic spine lifting and leading the movement forward of the shoulders, are the hips full extended, high, are the legs parallel with each other, and as the legs drive is that drive transmuting into more hip extension which is driving the thoracic spines movement?

I've seen a lot of people who can externally perform the movement, but without the proper connection through the spine wind up with lumbar or SI pain, for yoga students blown shoulders as well.

In that way i totally understand Bobs reasons for his comment, i'm not sure if that's where he's coming from.

It can be a fairly technical move, certainly more so than a pike. There is a learning curve for most, and often in ones zeal to get to everything straight too quickly problems can occur.

Like everything patience wins the race, simple things like starting with elevated feet, not rushing get the full pose, and of course giving time to warm the movement up.

Mr Brady said:

Like everything patience wins the race, simple things like starting with elevated feet, not rushing get the full pose, and of course giving time to warm the movement up.

Usually, most people I've met can perform the "Half Wheel" pretty easily - on the hands and crown of the head.

phrak said:

Mr Brady said:

I fully agree with Slizz, if we're talking money its those two. add a good twist and you got the spine covered.

To give back some change, straddle, splits both ways, butterfly, up dog, down dog.

I was personally thinking that Slizz's "Big 2" missed the whole adductor region along with any sort of spinal twist. I mentally added "seated straddle twist" in my head, to cover all bases I could think of

It did. I didn't even attempt to make a complete list, because that's a long list. Those were just the two that are by far the MOST important. Your spine doesn't need to be hypermobile and for most people that is actually unhealthy because it allows them to move through a range of motion that they do not have strength in. Spinal twisting is a supplementary thing that should never be a focus for an athlete. It is good to maintain mobility but not to try to extend flexibility indefinitely.

With regards to the hips, mobility and muscle activation are much more important than flexibility. Flexibility is nice, but for many people is not a huge issue.There are a lot of people with relatively normal hip flexibility but not that many with proper hip mobility. As long as mobility and flexibility are kept fairly close to each other there really isn't any disadvantage to developing them as far as you can. In this regard, I would say that Ido's squat clinic coupled with active butterflies and piriformus/other deep hip muscle flexibility and soft tissue work is the money for hips, along with a split squat matrix.