Help with L-sit flexibility

So I am trying to perform L-sits, but I can't seem to lift my lower legs more than a 45 degree angle (with my thighs being at 90 degrees with my upper body). I don't know if it is a strength issue or a flexibility issue; my hamstrings are likely tight, but I can do a full pike stretch. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Asclepius said:

So I am trying to perform L-sits, but I can't seem to lift my lower legs more than a 45 degree angle (with my thighs being at 90 degrees with my upper body). I don't know if it is a strength issue or a flexibility issue; my hamstrings are likely tight, but I can do a full pike stretch. Any ideas?

I'm currently working on the same sort of thing.

Can you post a picture of your pike? If you can do a real pike, odds are it's not your hamstrings, and it's all rectus femoris strength. But if you're pike is bending at the lower back too much, it's probably a combination of the two.

I can only get a 90 degree L-Sit with my knees slightly bent due to hamstring flexibility. I'm working on it, though

http://www.drillsandskills.com/article/16

Check out the last picture shown, helped me with lots of my L-sit woes (hip flexors, hamstrings).

Quite possibly it's just the weak rectus femoris.

If you can in a pike position with good spinal posture, you are flexible enough for the L-sit. Of course, it's helpful to have more flexibility than is required sometimes.