Be Flexible. Be Free.

Hi and welcome to the third part of my Yin Yoga (Passive Stretching) series where I will be detailing the last of my Top three best stretches for Front Splits.

So far I have covered the best ways to Front Bend and stretch the Back of the Leg and now we will look into the last of three exercises that are the best for preparing for the Front Splits and beyond into Over-Split variations, a pinnacle of flexibility.

So today I’m showcasing a more focused variation of the last method. In this one we raise the back leg to vertical and beyond to more acute angles in order to really target the Front of the Leg more acutely.

Even though the back of the leg or hamstrings are a very large muscle group compared to the front, they are easily warmed up and stretched. In comparison the front of the leg is a lot harder to target and free up. Moreover, the back of the leg is indirectly exercised anyway when one focuses on the front of the leg. It is for these reasons that I do not include a whole section for an exercise for the hamstrings themselves. If you perform the three stretches I mention here and in previous posts you will free up the back of the leg sufficiently to be able to lower into the full Splits position.

Isolating of the Back of the Leg

However, If you want to stretch this area with more focus simply find a ledge hip height or higher and place one leg atop it while keeping the back leg straight. Lean forward and try touch your raised leg. As leverage try to hold and pull forward and down toward the leg and the foot itself. Hold for 30-60 seconds and repeat as many times as you can until you feel more limber. I recommend working in 2-3 sets, 2-3 times. Although, as previously mentioned it is better to simply focus of the front of the leg as it loosens up the hamstrings anyway and so saves time. Killing two birds with one stone as they say.

Keeping it Simple Vs. Being Complicated – A Personal Story

For many years I was doing many of the less intensive, more traditional Yoga Asanas (postures). I would perform numerous postures and flow routines. It was only after reaching a point of dissatisfaction that I really started to look into how to increase my flexibility to the highest degree. I was not happy with my level of overall flexibility and felt that doing dozens of postures was not moving me forward as fast as I wanted.

I knew that my hips being the largest joint in the body housed some of the most intricately elaborate muscle, sinew and tendon arrangements found throughout the entire physiology. Because of this I always focused on stretches to loosen up this area. After some time not seeing or feeling a better result I started actively searching for the best ways to bring flexibility into the hips.

This is when I came across the Splits. I had seen gymnasts and dancers perform this amazing feat and thought it was not obtainable for the average person. Surely they must have been born with a natural gift for being flexible I mused. However my level of disillusionment with my current practice led me to continue to look more into this most beautiful display of physical prowess. I began to realise that it was more about dedication and perseverance toward training specific stretches rather than natural talent.

I watched videos of strength trainers, ballerinas, gymnasts, free runners and many other people from a myriad of other athletic pursuits perform this stretch. After some time a motif emerged wherein even though all these types of physical training where different in some way, they all went about preparing for and undertaking the Splits in the same manner.

I also began to see that there was little value in doing many different exercises other than these if you want to get to be able to do the Splits and Over-Splits. This is because others postures either do not directly target the areas needed or are counterproductive altogether.

In my experience as I became more flexible by adopting this new program I was better able to relax and enter mediation more effortlessly and also had greater clarity of thought and strength of mind.

Just a quick note. When you perform the Front Bend Like in the first episode to this series you prep the hamstring lovely for the Needle Stretch. As such I often intersperse it with doing training for Front Splits with my Needle variations.

So to summarise, I realised that there was only so many ways one could exercise the hip joints effectively. After some trial and error I narrowed it down to simply doing the Needle Stretch as outlined in my last episode and its more intense variation that I will go over now.

Advanced Needle Stretch

So this is the first way to go about this Advance Needle Stretch. As you can see I have stacked two step up ledges just high enough so that my foot can rest over the top of them. This is a great way to start and get into this exercise. It allows you to flex the foot to a horizontal position so as to in effect grip the ledge with your foot. It also allows one something to hold on to with the hands in order to stabilise oneself. It can also be used as something to grip onto while you laterally twist one side to the other and also if one leans backward as seen bellow:

Always lead with your eyes. Look backward, right over toward the floor behind you and then extend the arms to grip the ledge. I always like to hold this around a minute, and will repeat several times.

The same applies for lateral twists. The head can twist over 180 degrees if the spine is flexed fully by being led with the eyes. With intent look as far to the side as you can, this will allows you to go further.

Also make sure you exhale totally before a lateral bend or back bend, and then inhale shallowly when you reach your maximum. This intention projected through ones sight and the careful expulsion and inhalation of breath at the correct times allows one to make progress in the fastest way.

The next level it so remove movable support structures and just use a vertical wall. This means the foot will not be able to flex and instead will be locked into a fully extended position. This is why this is the harder stretch and why you can use a ledge of some kind to progress towards it.

Focus of pushing down and into the wall itself, and allow that pressure to travel into the front leg. Remember you can stagger the front leg, so try differing angles alongside stretching the back leg more intensely.

Also be sure to try it without touching the floor. Maybe try placing the hand on the front leg or placing the palms together in a prayer position in front of the body, or extend vertically. This allows one to gain better balance as you will notice imbalances in your posture better if you are not touching the ground with your hands.

Before the full Splits versions, there is a free standing version I encourage you to train too in order to gain maximum results before attempting the Front Splits.

Here the front of the leg is stretched out more by actively pulling the leg by the foot or ankle toward the back of the leg and buttocks. This removes the need for a static vertical support and requires more focus to achieve. However the benefits are a much more free moving leg, and one that can easily enter the Front Splits.

Once you can enter full Front Splits you can try the same two techniques of placing the back leg against a ledge and pulling the back leg in more, as seen here: