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The Bendy Blog: Flexibility Training Articles
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How to Stand Up from a Bridge (aka “Raise the Dead”)
Being able to stand back up from a bridge is a common goal for contortionists and advanced yogis alike - and it’s quite the challenge given the amount of glute, hip and core strength required! This is an advanced skill I would suggest working with a coach on if you haven’t done any form contortion training/classes before to make sure you understand the proper engagement to safely get into deep backbends.
Where to Buy Contortion Costumes on a Budget
Looking for a costume for your first student showcase? Want something fun and new for an upcoming photo shoot? Seeking a more “professional” costume for corporate or professional performing opportunities? I’ve got you covered!
4 Active Hamstring Stretches for Beginners
If you have tight hamstrings, you may have heard this could be because either “short” (which would imply you should stretch) or that they’re “weak” (which would imply you should strengthen, because stretching would only make them weaker…). So what’s a toe touching wannabe to do? The short answer: do both. Strengthen while your hamstrings are being stretched! These 4 hamstring stretches are my favorite active flexibility exercises for strengthening both your hamstrings and hip flexors to support a deeper hamstring stretch.
Help! My Front Knee Hurts in a Front Split
Stretching should never hurt - so if you’re experiencing acute pain in your knee when doing splits, you’re smart to look for a solution! There are several things that can lead to the sensation of pain in the underside of our knee. These three (below) are the most common causes I run into with my students - and thankfully all can be easily modified for during your training session, and conditioned to “fix” over time to keep your knees safe and strong while you continue to stretch.
Got Tight Calves? 3 Beginner-Friendly Calf Stretches
As someone who’s gone through several “do a lot on your toes” hobbies (cross country running, Latin dance, pole dance…), I’ve had tight calves virtually all my life. Thankfully calves typically respond very well to stretching (especially loaded/active stretches), so if you have calves that feel like rocks - there is hope!
How to “Sit” in a Chair Sit Bridge
A chair sit bridge is often one of the trickiest one for beginning contortionists to learn because it requires quite a bit of back and shoulder flexibility, AND solid body awareness of how to move your hips in space while you are engaging in a backbend. In this blog post I cover some prep drills to help learn the “butt coordination” (aka hip pike) required to sit in a chair sit bridge.
Gentle Sciatic Nerve Glide for Happier Hamstrings
If you have sciatic nerve tension holding back your flexibility training any time you try to stretch your hamstrings, adding some nerve mobilizations like a glide and a tensioner during your warm up can help alleviate some of that tension so you can make sure your later stretching as addressing the muscle, not just tugging and tensing your sciatic nerve even further.
How to Tell if Hamstring “Tightness” is Nerve or Muscle Tension
If you have been trying to stretch your “tight” hamstrings but have seen limited progress, or if you often feel hamstring stretches in your calves or low back - it may not actually be your hamstring muscles that are the problem - it may be your sciatic nerve!
“Diagnosing” Muscle Tightness vs. Nerve Tension
The role of our nervous system on flexibility training is something I wish I learned about way earlier in my training (because, spoiler alert, it needs to be treated totally different from our muscular system). This post is aimed to help get y’all up to speed on the basics of “neurodynamics” in flexibility training so you can start to understand the role your unique nerves play in your own personal training.
When (and How) to Start Working on Oversplits
While oversplit training may look like exercises reserved for those who are currently extremely comfortable in their flat splits, it’s actually safe an effective for students who are still an inch or two away from flat splits (and can even be a sneaky tool to help you close those last couple of inches!).
6 Active Flexibility Drills for Your Straddle Pancake
Looking to embody a flatter flapjack in your straddle pancake stretch? A straddle “pancake” (forward fold) requires a combination of inner thigh flexibility (to widen your straddle) and hamstring flexibility (to fold forwards). This post will specifically focus on active flexibility drills to strengthen our hamstrings and hip flexors to support a deeper wide-legged forward fold.
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.