TIPS, TRICKS & HOW-TOs
The Bendy Blog: Flexibility Training Articles
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TIPS, TRICKS & HOW-TOs
Jump to:
Splits & Leg Flexibility / Back & Shoulder Flexibility / Beginner-Friendly / Contortion / All Posts
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Last week I posted about some of my favorite InstagramLast week I posted about some of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow for flexibility education - to keep that same theme going, I also want to share some of my favorite YouTube channels. Like I mentioned in my last post, I’ve never taken an actual anatomy class, so all of my anatomy training has been through taking workshops, and teaching myself with whatever content I can find. Luckily there are some fabulous content creators on YouTube that make this SO easy (and fascinating!) for folks who want to learn more about their anatomy, and how to start applying this knowledge to flexibility training.
‘Tis the season to be thankful - and I’m kicking off this Thanksgiving week (albeit belatedly, since it’s already Tuesday…) with a roundup of some of the Instagram content producers I am most thankful for. We are lucky to live in an age where there are SO many smart instructors, movers, and educators that are passionate about sharing their knowledge of flexibility training with others for free - here is a list of my “Top 5” (and then a whoooooole lot of “honorable mentions”) that are absolutely worth following to help you on your flexy journey.
Obturator nerve tension refers to a situation where the obturator nerve, one of the main nerves that goes through our inner thighs, is prevented from sliding like it’s normally supposed to and instead tugged into a position of too-much-tension when we try to stretch our adductors (inner thigh muscles). This can be tricky because it may feel a whole lot like muscle tightness, so it’s important to be able to recognize whether the inner thigh “tightness” or “stretching” sensation you are feeling is actually a muscle stretch (good!) or nerve tension (probably less productive) - so let’s talk about how to figure that out!
Passive stretching has gotten a bad rap y’all.
While there has been a lot of research to support that just passive stretching isn’t a great way to increase your flexibility, and most people make more, faster, progress by including drills that focus on their active flexibility - that doesn’t mean you should stop doing passive stretches!
A “Y Scale” or a side leg hold is one of my favorite standing contortion shapes because it’s one of the first ones I ever learned to do. Most students tend to enjoy this shape because it looks cool (obviously!) and is typically easier to train than a “traditional” standing split or the even-more-complex needle scale.
Earlier this week I posted a quick how-to showing the basic mechanics of how to do a Y scale. Today we’ll be looking at how to make it look bendier (working on our flexibility to lift the leg higher, make it look split-ier, etc).
This is a question I sometimes get from students (and even other flexibility instructors) - should we try to keep feet flat on the floor in a bridge, or is lifting the heels OK? The answer - like with so many flexibility questions - is it depends.