Has anyone tried this new (to me) leg stretch

[Jim Pickles]

We made up this stretch on the fly for a student who for medical reasons didnt want to put her head down. I aimed to stretch the posterior chain in the way the downward dog does (though only on one side at a time). The front of the foot is raised on blocks to give a calf stretch and brought a long way forward to give a bit of a hamstring stretch as well. The hip on that side is pressed back strongly. What was surprising is how different it was from the downward dog. Most of us felt it strongly along what might have been the line of the glutes, one student felt it stongly on the inner thigh. I guess it is going to pick out different muscles depending on pre-existing tightnesses and patterns of use, as well as subtle rotations during the stretch. However, because it targeted a different pattern of muscles from a downward dog (and incredibly valuable stretch in my opinion), it might be a useful stretch in peoples' armoury (even if they can do the downward dog).

Out of interest, has any one tried this stretch, is it a standard one, and what are your opinions of it?

Jim.

[ChrisScott]

Looks like a more refined version of a typical "I know nothing about stretching, but I'm going to stretch my hamstrings before my jog" stretch.

[SwissDanny]

Seems quite close to the Pike Series E8 Outer Hamstring, other than the trailing leg is straight not bent and the E8 has an even less inverted stance.

[Jim Pickles]

SwissDanny - yes, thanks for pointing that out. We use many of the same cues as Olivia describes and we get the same effect. Now we will do it with the other cues that Olivia described. It was a bit surprising in its powerful effect for such an apparently simple and obvious stretch so I think we'll try it and its variants more often. Many thanks for your help, Jim.

[Craig]

Looks exactly like an easier version of the stretch shown at 0.21 in this video:

good stuff, probably needs very high volume to be effective.

[Jim Pickles]

Thanks for pointing that out Craig. Also, that video put me onto another, on splits "for beginners":

It looked quite a good routine if you like bouncy stretches, though obviously she's very flexible to start with, and there wasnt much on the extension of the hip, so its not surprising that in the final pose her hips are not square, in spite of her good flexibility. I couldnt help however spend my time looking at the lovely background.

Jim.