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As well: Definitely worth trying.

So, please show me the position you're using to determine that you do not have much internal rotation—that will help me. And a few comments on what you wrote immediately above: That will be your hip flexors you feel, most probably, and you may be inadvertently using these to pull yourself forwards (any muscle used in its shortened end of the range of movement is likely to spasm). This can feel like a block. Or the hip flexors may be holding significant attention, in which case they will not flow/squash out of the way in that position and that will feel like a block. In any case, get down on the floor and try stretching both hip flexors, and then try the elephant walk again, lowering yourself with your arms and not pulling yourself forward with your groin muscles and see if that feels any different. Another thing that you can try, which will help the same range of movement is to lie on your back, keep the back pressed to the floor, and pull one knee gently into the chest. Contractions can be done here too, simply by trying to push the knee away from you while you hold it in position, and then restretch. Last, in this phase of your flexibility journey, do not do any exercise too often. Any exercise that you experience as intense, for whatever reason, do only once a week or once every four or five days at the most. All of the adaptation occurs when you're not stretching, and you have to give the body time to recover. As well, use as many of the mobility exercises as you can on your resting days. And yes, daily practice of the relaxation exercises will help enormously, but this also takes time.

Hi Kit how’s it going? Thanks for the answer. I’m following the basic course of ST for about 5 months and I find it great. The lack of this range of movement is evident even to my inexperienced eye (it misses both the bent leg and especially the extended leg) but I was told by a trusted physiotherapist that I must increase over time the amplitude of the internal rotation. The same physiotherapist advised me to focus initially on the release of the flexors of the hip (psoas in primis) and the external rotators of the hip (piriforme especially), and that’s when I started seriously considering a release/flexibility process instead of the more superficial mobility training I was used to. But in the process, getting more and more into contact with more intense ranges and therefore more intense sensations I realized how limiting the lack of this amplitude of movement is. For example in the "Walk of the elephant" at some point I feel a block in the front of the hips (as if I was running and often accompanied by a painful pinch) that (along with a strong stiffness of the calves/ ankles) leads to a strong tremor and a strong feeling of discomfort and instability. This happens in all positions where you have to bring the torso close to the thighs, for example in the position for the buttocks/ piriforme from sitting a strong tension in the inner part of the thighs (especially on the right side, where it is much more difficult to fold my leg over the other by placing my ankle on my left thigh). These strong feelings make me feel the feelings of tension and fear with which I am trying to work and think that, along with the relaxation you suggest, I am taking the right path. I know that resolving these tensions will involve an intense journey and I am very happy already from now on for any discovery it will reveal to me. I posted this topic to understand how to approach a strong limitation, in my case the internal rotation of the hip accompanied by a strong tension (almost anesthesia) of the sacral area/ low back (what an old acquaintance of mine would call moto/sensory amnesia). I have difficulties in approaching various poses that affect the hips, especially with reference to the buttocks, and this is why I’m focusing on phase 1 of the basic program, to be able to first try to get deeper with relaxation in my restrictions. I hope this approach is useful 🙂. Thanks again Kit, for your interest and if you want to give me some more tips. I wish you all a good day.

Ah: the rod of correction... a genuine game changer for calf muscles. Go slowly.

Hello from Australia. Are you following one of our courses presently? How (what have you done) to determine that you lack this range of movement? That is what the Starter Course will teach you. It includes access to all our lying relaxation recordings, too. It begins at the very beginning. And please read this: https://stretchtherapy.net/relaxation-wiki/ Once you've read it, listen to the setup instructions, and download one of the recordings, turn off your phone, lie down listen and follow. Fear and anxiety are rife these days – and with good reason. But, definitely, it is possible to teach the body and mind a new way to be in the face of the chaos. And once you learn how to be more relaxed in daily life, suddenly you become aware that you are not feeling anxious. This can be a very nice little shock!

HIP I.R.: I have been grappling, for some time now, with a total lack of this ability, for which I cannot find the correct path of resolution and release of the tension that causes it. Lately I have been wondering strongly what it is due to, and I am not only referring to postural and joint positioning habits, but to something deeper (feelings of tension/fear experienced in daily life). I would be very interested in your opinions on this. How to set up a proper stretching/relaxation routine and around which poses should be focused in order to actually understand from which areas/muscles this stiffness arises? How to approach such a strong and actually limiting tension in various areas (including that of one's sensitivity/confidence and that of fear)? I apologize for my bad English and greet you all with a big hug from Italy. Thank you very much gentlemen, FOR ALL.

I don't have a whole lot to report here as far as my stretching goes, but it's been a couple weeks so I'll give an update. I'm doing limbering most days (squats, Cossack squats, knee raises, shoulder mobility, baby flops, bar hangs and some short one arm bar hangs, and whatever else feels like it needs it) often throughout the day rather than in a specific session. I do a few stretching sessions a few times a week for things that could use it (mostly hamstrings, calves, side bends, back, neck, quads, and hip flexors). I'm practicing being aware of sensations and using that as my primary guide during limbering and stretching. I'm noticing more moments of spontaneous peace and joy and some moments of awareness of absences of discursive thought as I go through my days. Sometimes they are just a breath away when I can let some layer of conditioning go--though it's quick to return and sporadic in when it goes. Day to day I don't really notice too much change betwen sessions. Sometimes I'm more flexible than the day before, sometimes I'm less flexible, and others I can't see any difference at all. I'm not worried about it. Compared to when I started everything is getting easier and my active range of motion has increased (a few inches higher in the case of the knee raises, and a few inches lower for the freestanding Cossack squats before I need to rely on a counter weight for balance). I am noticing increased muscle activation and awareness as I go through the exercises so I'm (slowly) waking up the mind-body connection. I did a set of 5 pullups today (a 3-4 reps short of my max I think) for the first time since the fall. I'm trying to give myself some time to acclimate to doing them again before I increase the volume. I've gone on some short (1-2km runs) on the beach in the last couple weeks as well which I'm mostly feeling in my calves and feet and might be a little bit at odds with increased flexibility in the short term while I get used to it. I'll probably use the rod of correction on my calves when I finish writing this. I've been a little more sporadic in my lying relaxation practice lately for no good reason, but it's probably related to the warmer weather here and more of my free time being spent outside (either doing things or just enjoying it). I'll work on doing it daily again since I miss it when I don't do it. LRP.

The reason for suggesting the advanced piriformis pose, the one I'm demonstrating, is that that stretches the sacral end of that muscle and the stretching effect is completely different from all the other piriformis exercises that stretch the end of the muscle that attaches to the thigh bone itself. And make sure that you keep your back straight, stick the butt out a bit to make sure that is the case, and lean forward over the mid-shin line, if you cannot lean forward over the line of the foot itself. Leaning forward over the mid-shin line will make the exercise easier, and will stretch part with that same muscle (plus the glute). Once the whole muscle loosens up, then you might be able to do the full version – but don't cheat: the bending must happen at the hip joint only.

Hi Kit I will try it- already do a variation of the pirformis strech albeit without CR.

In my view, everything needs to be stretched—using the example you gave, of stretching the calf muscles, of course you need to stretch the shin muscles and the whole of the front of the foot itself – many reasons including trying to avoid shin splints if you're a runner. My strong suggestion is to avoid trying to find underlying principles here and simply work on everything, slowly, over time. This is why we recommend the starter course to literally everyone, even if they're already flexible – what we have found is human beings are expert in cheating, and what cheating means really is nothing more than avoiding discomfort. What that means is that we always avoid the areas that we instinctively or subconsciously know are tight. So we have to eventually, over time, work everything slowly. The mantra of Stretch Therapy™ is no unnecessary tension – and you will need to try a stretch for everything in order to know where you hold tension. Having said that, the vast majority of the population hold way too much tension, or to use your language, have way too little range of movement in quads and hip flexors. As for your second question about range of movement changes, that's just a snapshot in a moment. What is important is your cold flexibility and its changes over time, and we are talking years here not minutes or weeks or months. I hope that's helpful and if I didn't answer your question, ask it in a different way.

Have you tried doing the advanced piriformis stretch? The goal, solo or assisted, is the place the centre of your chest on your foot with a straight back – which very few people can do. But all of the positions that go from the upright to that end position will help this problem, potentially. Please give this a try before you try the pancake and see whether that changes anything. Google has being enshittifying content creators like me for a very long time now – I could not even watch that video myself because two ads were blocking me. Give it a go anyway, get through those ads, and then watch the video.

Hi everyone Hopefully Im posting this in the right place I have been experienceing a changing pain pattern (which has now settled into consistent one while training a straddle pancake stretch program I have been seeing an osteopath who specialized in ART or active release to treat it, and he suggests its a very specific type of sciatic sensation (not sciatica per se) only felt during this particular mechanical setup for me due to the twisting of the external rotators along with extremeflexion and abduction of the legs. He says there is some adhesion of the transtion of the glutemax down into the IT band and its fascial connection to the lateral hamstring. Im super frsutrated by this. My pancake used to feel good -albeit like a deep stretch. I can get belly to floor after warming up. But now as i approach the end range I feel this. It doesnt stop me in my tracks from doing it, its just an additional aggrivating pain. There is no tendonitis to the hamstrings at either end, nor the gracialis. I have been seeing him for 3 months (costing a fair bit of money) and it feels like while he gets to the issue in the session, when i revisit the stretch program it comes back over time. My question is : has anyone on here had expereince with a similar type of pain, and if so what was the resolution/steps taken to alleviate and get back toa comfy pancake. One important thing to note- i have a large imbalance in lateral hamstring (bicep femoris) flexibily on the problem side. Its much tighter than the other despite me doing specific lateral hamstring work. Any help would be greatly appreciated with the stretch experts on here. thanks Terry) here is synopsis of the pain pattern Location Starts at outer underside of my glute max and travels outward and down the lateral thigh in a narrow band to outer knee, sometimes reaching lateral calf Pain is not felt in the hip joint itself but more as sharp muscular type feel. He has described it as between the lateral hamstring (bicep femoris) and the IT band. Type of pain Acute stage-Sharp tight pain mostly felt as a point/line on outer underside of the glute and then as a narrow band that feels like it travels outward and in a line that wraps around the outside of leg Aggravating Factors DEEP Straddle stretch (hip flexion & abduction) pike stretch (hip flexion) squat (hip flexion and abduction) Muscle/Tendon Involvement? IT band, TFL, glute max, glute med, glute min, outer hamstring

Few general stretching questions if thats ok! To improve say your calf flexibility, does one need to stretch their shin muscles alongside? I often only see calf stretches given. With the knee joint i find if i stretch the hamstrings/upper calf i can then stretch my quad better which up onto a point with just stretching that i'd fine i would feel pressure in the knee joint. An old mentor of mine who i do think was wrong on quite a lot of stuff said that stretching improves the ability of the muscle to lengthen and shorten so in order to improve hip flexor/quad flexibility with a lunging couch stretch you'd need to improve your knee flexion with lower hamstring and upper calf stretches. Is that true? Or is it more about strengthening those opposing muscles and getting them good at shortening? Also is the ROM change after stretching an accurate determinant of what stretch works for you. Say you did a stretch that didn't improve your ROM temporarily after, or even it felt a bit tighter, in both scenarios does that indicate something else needs to be stretched before that or you need to do a different stretch for that muscle/area? Thanks!

@Kit_LWhat would discomfort on the outside of the leg mean?

@Matt Chung, the VLC player is a GREAT suggestion! Thank you! Great point about it being better for the environment to download the files rather than stream them each time. I would not have considered that had you not mentioned it.

I understand your goals re. flexibility, @daisysheldon, but the relaxation dimension helps both the acquisition of flexibility that you have stated that you need, and the much wider goal of feeling comfortable in your body, especially as your performing. Not to mention the wider again effects on the whole of life. As for your question about the mastery program, it is more a recipe list designed to let you target specific flexibility problems, assuming you have done all of the Master the Squat work and know your body from following those instructions. Most of the YouTube videos are both instructional and follow along. There is no conflict between these two sources. For you, specifically, now, the quadriceps and hip flexor exercises need to be your priority and you can use either the mastery course as a source or the YouTube videos to guide you. There is no contradiction between these two. If I have not understood what you were trying to get across, please just ask any question you want.

Thank you Kit. yes that makes sense but I want to specifically unlock more flexibility to widen my scope of movement accessible to me as a performer. i actually purchased your stretching mastery programme - bit confused as to whether to follow that or your youtube videos?

@daisysheldon: do yourself a favour, and read this: https://stretchtherapy.net/relaxation-wiki/ Nothing will affect your dance, and the experience of being in your body, more profoundly than learning how to relax deeply and to carry that experience into daily life (and dance!). All the recordings are free. Many users have reported to us that doing these practises daily were the most significant changes they have ever made in their lives. The same practice will have a profound effect on your quest to become more flexible too.

I feel restricted when I dance

Do you feel good in your body?

"front, side split and pancake, as well as improve my back flexibility" I presume you have seen the videos that Kit has, many now available for free (there are lots on Youtube). I thought the Mastery seires was now available for free but I see that it is still paid-for - but this has the best series of graded exercises for your goals (and for other goals too). You really need to do a wide range of exercises, not just the ones that are most directly targeting what is needed for your goals. This is because there are lots of other little structures (muscles, fascia, ligaments, etc) involved in every movement and you need to explore those to get optimal flexibility for your main goals. It is also more motivating to try lots of different exercises. For those goals, you should certainly give prominence to (among all the other exercises and the variants) hamstring stretches, hip flexor stretches, quad stretches, tailor pose, pancake (preparation), spinal rotation (loosens up the spine), passive backbending over support, cobra, wheel. As you are doing. For me, I started stretching in my 40s from a very tight start. Now front splits are routine without a warm-up, I've never QUITE achieved a straight-line straddle (a few cm out on a good day), backbends have always been good, pancake now OK. Front splits, straddle and pancake took about 10 years. Just letting you know. I'm coming up to 80 and do all those stretches (and final positions) every couple of days. While nothing can beat Kit and Oliva's Mastery Series, you can also see for free parts of the routines I use in my own teaching for legs - go to my webpage www.jimpflex.com.au, go to Class Videos (https://www.jimpflex.com.au/classvideos.html) and look for Legs 1 and Legs 2. These are follow-along videos which will give you my routines for front splits preparation, straddle preparation, and pancake preparation. They are intended for students with the degree of flexibility of those in my own class, so mostly the videos dont show final completed final poses (splits etc). However they can be easily extended. Most of the exercises are taken from the ST program. Jim.

Thank you for your response Kit. I'm sorry to hear about the boat and your computer - I hope the new one gets sorted soon for you. I have added in the quad and hip flexor stretches to my practise. Thats good to know realistically in terms of timescales to expect. Would you suggest to keep going with these exercises for the part 1 or change them? ie. Session 1: Long lunge, concentrating on the back leg x 3; your choice of a quad-hip flexor stretch; passive back bend over something, strongest version of the cobra pose, full bridge pose.

Thank you for your comment Jim. That is humbling to hear about the realistic timescales to expect as an adult. I do struggle to enjoy the process... any tips very welcomed! Thats good you see progress! I am balancing on my heel in the high lunge because it is what Kit says to do in one of the videos (posted in this thread) - not sure why, but maybe I can try flat on the floor too.

I am looking to get my front, side split and pancake, as well as improve my back flexibility (not to necessarily do a wheel pose, but more to help my movement as a dancer)

Burkemann is a good writer he has another good book on happiness the antidote to positive thinking for those who can't stand it. I came across the word autotelic when reading a book by Pat Farenga based on John Holt's theory of unschooling,he was saying that learning can be its own reward rather than learning to get a good mark in an examination