Stretching advice.

[Ironbear24]

I normally been doing splits as best I can and butterfly stretches in the dojo, they love that stretch but I don't.

I find I am have not been showing progress in that stretch, does anyone else have issues with that stretch too? I feel like I could reach further but my fat gets in the way and generally the struggle comes more from that than actual flexibility. The cup wear also doesn't seem to make things any easier.

 

[crazydiamond]

I stretch via yoga the mornings before I train at night. This way I am more free and relaxed.

"Bound Angle" and "Resting cobblers" / "reclined bound angle" are in my standard 25 min morning yoga routine. These are basically the yoga terms for butterfly stretch. The reclining or resting pose is easier to do (no belly in way) and i think targets similar hip opener needs.

Featured Pose: Reclined Cobbler's Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) - Paperblog

 

[Dirty Dog]

If the stretch is being limited by body habitus rather than flexibility, you're not going to gain anything from doing it.
Spend some time on google and YouTube and you'll find tons of stretches you can do.

 

[Buka]

Ironbear, this the stretch you mean?

 

[Xue Sheng]

I stretch via yoga the mornings before I train at night. This way I am more free and relaxed.

"Bound Angle" and "Resting cobblers" / "reclined bound angle" are in my standard 25 min morning yoga routine. These are basically the yoga terms for butterfly stretch. The reclining or resting pose is easier to do (no belly in way) and i think targets similar hip opener needs.

Featured Pose: Reclined Cobbler's Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) - Paperblog

I'm a big fan of savasana

I don't know what it is about half moon pose but my legs feel great after that and for some reason a chest opener with a couple yoga blocks I find rather relaxing and refreshing

 

[JowGaWolf]

Stretching Solution for you. Just be sure to get a video of you crying so we can post it in here.

The correct way to stretch is to learn how to stretch relaxed and to stretch often. If you aren't stretching everyday then you aren't going to see much of a gain.

 

[Ironbear24]

Ironbear, this the stretch you mean?

Yes that one.

 

[kuniggety]

I find the bit of stretching they do before/after a martial arts class isn't enough for me to see improvement. It just maintains wherever I'm at. I only see improvement if I actually set aside an entire 30 min plus for stretching. I am not naturally flexible by an stretch of the imagination. The key is to be warmed up. Immediately after a workout, even weight lifting, you will be loads more flexible. I'm also more flexible at night. We do stack stretches in BJJ. I struggle with them in the morning even with 5-10 min of warm up activity beforehand. At night, with no warm up, I can just lay down on the ground and do it. Listen to your body and find a routine.

 

[Flatfish]

You could try the frog stretch...google is your friend. One thing that I have been doing lately and really like the feel of is hindu pushups but with the legs spread as far apart as they will go. In addition to the arm and chest workout it really opens up the hips. Someone posted a video of those I think in a Muay Thai video but i can't find that right now.

 

[crazydiamond]

Someday I hope to get my head to the floor - right now its almost elbows.

 

[Skullpunch]

In addition to what everyone else is saying, keep in mind muscle imbalances can cause this type of issue and they are very, very common - especially in sports (to include martial arts training) since almost all of them require repetitive motion which overstimulates certain muscles compared to others.

In my case, I was struggling with stretches that involved mobility on my outer thigh and doing yoga/stretching the hell out of it was providing marginal help at best. This got me thinking about muscle imbalances and how a lot of guys have super tight pecs and anterior delts as a result of doing way too many pushups and bench presses and nowhere near enough rear delt and mid trap work, resulting in everything being pulled forward and limited mobility. Stretching the anterior delts everyday may help a little bit but it's not going to solve the actual problem, the problem is they're overpowering their antagonist muscles by such a wide margin that they're pulling the structure off balance, thus the answer is that the antagonist muscles - in this case the posterior deltoid and mid trapezius - need a lot of work.

Applied to my outer thigh/abductor issue, I realized that for the better part of a decade I have been squatting with a narrow stance which targets the outer thigh, which is a good thing, but I have done zero inner thigh work, and when I tested the strength of my adductors (things like sumo squats, pulling the leg across the mid-line of the body, diagonal lunges, etc) I found out real quick that I was comparatively very weak at these movements relative to anything which targets the outer thigh. When I started squatting with a wider-than-shoulder-width stance with my toes pointed somewhat outward and my knees extending out and away from me at a bit of an angle, and a couple of sets of adduction after squatting, doing this in addition to yoga helped me to gradually begin seeing improvement.

If you can, see a physical therapist and get tested for these types of imbalances - or any others involving the hip/groin. For the adductor/abductor issue I think a very simple test that can immediately tell you that you have an imbalance (though passing the test is not conclusive that no such imbalance exists) is how you walk - if your feet naturally take more weight inward than outward or vice versa it means there is an imbalance.

The guy who suggested the frog stretch might not be a bad thing to try - if groin-specific tightness is what's inhibiting you in the butterfly stretch then this might be able to help a bit, as well as other groin specific stretches you can find.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Someday I hope to get my head to the floor - right now its almost elbows.

My goal isn't as big. I just want to stretch enough to keep me from tearing something when I do my activities.

 

[JowGaWolf]

keep in mind muscle imbalances

totally agree. This is a concern that touches any physical activity. I did cross country running 3 miles race through woods, sprints, cycling, skate boarding, tennis, weight lifting, and basketball when I was in high school. I thought I was super fit but all of that changed when I did one class of Plyometrics during cross country practice. Even after all of the various activities that I did, that plyometrics class kicked my butt within the first 5 minutes. That was my first introduction to how muscles really work. Just because they are strong one way doesn't mean that they are strong in all ways.

Muscle imbalances are normal but become an issue when a person over trains a muscle in one way. I do a lot of push ups and I keep in mind to work opposing muscles as well so that my muscles aren't pulling my skeletal structure out of alignment. Some muscles imbalances can cause some major issues as you get older.

 

[JR 137]

You could try the frog stretch...

This is the only groin stretch that has helped me in any way. Butterfly, splits and pretty much everything else have been basically worthless to me. My groin flexibility is awful, and every other groin stretch either causes pain (not muscular stretching discomfort) or doesn't stretch enough to be worth my time.

 

[imitation_vanilla]

I'd recommend stretching a bit at home before you put your cup on, and switching up what stretches you do so that you keep a good range of motion.