TIPS, TRICKS & HOW-TOs
The Bendy Blog: Flexibility Training Articles
Filter posts by topic:
All Posts / Bridges / Contortion / Front Splits / General Back Flexibility / General Flexibility Tips / General Lower Body Flexibility / Middle Splits / Neurodynamics / Shoulders / Straddles / Yoga /
Advanced Quad and Hip Flexor Stretches for Contortion
If you’ve got relatively flexible hip flexors and quads (ex. you can easily pull your heel to your butt in a standing quad stretch, and/or you have flat splits) - it may be time to up your hip work for those muscle groups.
These are all deep anterior (front of the) hip stretches that may make you feel your quads like you’ve never felt them before!
Stubbornly Tight Hip Flexors? Quick Test for Femoral Nerve Tension
Do you feel like your hip flexors (or quads) are always pretty stiff, even when doing regular, dedicated stretching? What if I told you the culprit may not be your tight muscles at all and no amount of passive lunges and hip stretches would really make a difference?
Time to learn about the role of our good ol’ femoral nerve and how it behaves differently in out stretches than our hip flexors and quad muscles.
Help! My Knee Hurts in a Lunge
Knee discomfort - especially in the back knee - while doing a lunge is not uncommon for folks with tighter hips. There are many reasons you might be feeling some knee pain while in a lunging position: weak quads, tight quads, improper patella tracking, too much pressure on the patella, etc. Thankfully, there are several modifications you can try that can alleviate some of the pressure on your knee so that you can still stretch comfortably!
5 Beginner-Friendly Quad Stretches
There are a lot of activities that require you to really exercise your quads - literally anything that requires bending and straightening of your knee! Running, cycling, and weightlifting are all great at building quad strength, but without stretching after exercise could lead to tighter quads, which can eventually lead to knee pain.
If you’re looking for some beginner-friendly (and knee-friendly!) stretches for your quads, read on.
Working Towards King Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
Being able to touch your foot to your head in Pigeon pose (aka King Pigeon, or Eka Pada Rajakapotasana for you yogis) is a great goal for intermediate and advanced students who are interested in working their full body flexibility because it really does require your full body. Also obviously it looks pretty damn cool, which is also a totally appropriate reason to want to be able to do a pose. Below are some suggested variations and drills to help your progress towards a backbend-ier Pigeon.