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The Bendy Blog: Flexibility Training Articles
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Knee Pain in Middle Splits? Try These Adjustments
If you experience knee pain when practicing your middle splits, you’re not alone. It’s not uncommon for new practitioners to feel some discomfort in their knees - and I’m not talking about “good stretch” discomfort. So you’re wise to learn what’s going on to fix this issue!
30-Day Toe Touch Flexibility Challenge
Calling all toe-touching wannabes! Join me and my lovely very-average-flexibility assistant Nate to learn a beginner-friendly stretching routine aimed to help improve your hamstring flexibility to help you touch your toes.
How to Close the Last Inch(es) on Your Splits
So you’ve been training you front splits for what feels like for-ev-er only to get stuck 1-2 inches away from the ground for months. Sound familiar?
Don’t despair! There are two main things I’ve found help students the most once you get oh-so-close and need to just close that last inch or two to get that sweet sweet touchdown.
How to Fake a Split: The “Illusion” Split
Whether you are oh-so-close to flat splits, or still quite a ways away from the floor - anyone can fake a split if you do it at the right angle! And “faking” your split is easier and more comfortable than your regular split, so it’s fun to learn how to do.
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!