One of the EasyFlexibility students asked me a question which prompted me to share this article with all of you, as you may have similar questions. This student has been working on the EasyFlexibility Downward Facing Dog program. This program develops the proper strength and flexibility needed to do the Downward Facing Dog. Her question was: “What is the optimum angle for Downward Facing Dog?”
Downward Facing Dog position involves many muscles.
Now I just want to make a point that there are people at different levels of flexibility. And it might be, for the lack of better word, funny, to one person as to why someone is practicing a whole program on how to do a Downward Facing Dog. But for another person who is not very flexible, they need quite a lot to master the Downward Facing Dog. Especially because there are so many muscles involved and so many joints. Every person is different and has different levels of flexibility. For some Downward Facing Dog may be super easy and for others it may be the most difficult pose yet. Just like one person can do many pull-ups and think of it as no big deal. Another person would be very happy when they finally can do one pull up.
This student is tracking her progress with our Stretch180 App. The Stretch180 app is a tool that we have developed to help track your flexibility progress by showing you exactly how many degrees you have progressed at any given moment in time. Because she is using this app, she can see the degree of her Downward Facing Dog flexibility and thus got curious if the position of her Downward Facing Dog is at an optimal angle.
Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana Program
Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana is a very common yoga pose. Many styles of yoga use this pose to rest or connect to other asanas. This pose has a wide range of benefits. From calming the mind to relieving tension and mood swings. From improving digestion to relieving headaches.
“Ideal” hip angle for Downward Facing Dog position.
While I cannot give an exact ideal angle for this pose. I can say that when we were putting together the Downward Facing Dog program, we looked at students of different flexibility levels. And we noticed that students who are at the level where they can do the perfectly and by perfectly, I mean a straight line between the arms and torso, straight torso, straight knees, heels on the floor, etc., had the angle at their hip between 70 and 75 degrees. Some people’s angle of the Downward Facing Dog was 70, 71, very rarely someone’s angle was below 70 and almost no one was above 75 degrees.
Hyper flexibility in the Downward Facing Dog position.
There was one very interesting case of one gentleman who’s angle was 83 degrees. And this was a largest angle which was way out of norm and this is what happened with him. He lacked hamstrings flexibility, so he needed to open up his hip angle. Again, when I refer to an angle I mean the angle of the hip, not the shoulders, wrists, or ankles, but the hips. So, he has been practicing yoga for a very long time but had issues with his hamstrings flexibility which got slightly better over a long period of time, but he was still having issues with his hamstring’s flexibility. However, his ankles were very flexible. When you look at dorsi flexion of the ankle, you expect about 20 degrees, some people get about 25 degrees, his was above that. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the exact angle which he had in his ankle but I do recall his hip angle which was 83 degrees.
In the Downward Facing Dog position, he did not exhibit hyper range of motion in any other joint. His elbows were straight. His shoulders were 180 degrees. And his knees were straight. The only hypermobility was in his ankle.
He told me that as a child he was involved in track and basketball when there was a lot of stretching and strengthening of the ankle. He also told me he was into bodybuilding, where he did a lot of a calf exercises going through full range of motion. His favorite exercise was to stand on a staircase and do toe presses. One leg at a time, with his heel dropping below the level of the toes with additional weight for resistance. In the EasyFlexibility system an exercise like this is known as Isolated Extended Length Conditioning exercise for the ankle.
When he became older, he began doing yoga and eventually started practicing EasyFlexibility. But in his yoga training when doing a Downward Facing Dog, he noticed that his hips were tight, his hamstrings were tight, and he needed to open up the angle of the hips. In other words, walk the hands forward. While for most people doing this would result in heels coming off the floor, in his case this did not happen because he had great range of motion in his ankles.
I have seen dancers with very flexible ankles especially the ones who were able to get very deep in a Plie position while their heels would stay on the ground. I haven’t done a study on this, but my assumption would be that they would have very flexible hamstrings. Thus, if they were to do a Downward Facing Dog position they would not need to open up their hips and take the flexibility from their ankles, thus keeping the flexibility in their hips in the 70 – 75 degree range.
Is 70 – 75 degrees hip angle ideal for Downward Facing Dog position?
Would I say that 70 – 75 degree hip angle range is ideal for a Downward Facing Dog? I cannot say. All I can say is that based on my research this appears to be the average hip angle in the Downward Facing Dog as it is generally taught.
The reason that we recorded the Downward Facing Dog is precisely because many were struggling with getting their heels on the floor, extending the knees and being able to get the shoulders a straight line.
And while it’s perfectly accepted in yoga schools not to do a full technique or do some kind of an adoption or modification, for example the knees can be bent, heels lifted off the floor, etc., Most people want to be able to do a Downward Facing Dog technique as they see demonstrated by their Yoga instructor.
If you are struggling with your Downward Facing Dog position we invite you to learn more about our Downward Facing Dog position program by clicking here:
Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana Program
Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana is a very common yoga pose. Many styles of yoga use this pose to rest or connect to other asanas. This pose has a wide range of benefits. From calming the mind to relieving tension and mood swings. From improving digestion to relieving headaches.
The cause of reoccurring spinal and lower back injuries during hip and shoulder compound stretching.
Strains and sprains, in the joints and the muscles, in and around the spine while stretching, is a rather common occurrence. Unfortunately, most of the time it’s not properly understood, and the cause of injury is usually not connected to the mechanism of an injury to a casual observer.
Compound stretching is a very common reason for these types of injuries. This can happen in any part of the spine and in any muscle group and muscle group along the spine but in this article the focus is on the lower back specifically.
Compound stretching is a very common reason for these types of injuries.
A compound stretch usually stretches multiple muscles from more than one joint. An example of this would be a sitting two-legged forward band hamstring stretch, a straddle pancake stretch, a lunge stretch, a lateral bending stretch in a sitting straddle, of course there are other examples as well.
In all examples mentioned, there is attempted stretch of various hip muscles. Hamstrings in the forward bend, hip flexors in a lunge stretch, adductors and hamstrings in pancake or lateral bend in a full straddle. Together with the spine, and in some cases depending on the arm position, together with the shoulder joint, or the shoulder girdle.
Hip Combo – Beginner Level
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For a majority of people, the spine is more mobile than the hip joint in any direction.
For the purpose or understanding this concept, let’s assume that the compound stretch is isolated to the spine and the hip joints. For most people, not for each and every person, but for majority of people, the spine is more mobile than the hip joint in any direction. With some exceptions when there are fusions of the spine, specific injuries, specific surgeries, or very deep specialized training where the hip joints have been properly mobilized and the muscles have been properly lengthened, while the muscles of the core have developed incredible strength and awareness. And that, is very, very rare. Especially in regular people who participate in stretching type of activity.
Many people stop stretching because they have lower back pain.
Over the years I have spoken to many people about their flexibility training. And, I found it quite interesting that there were people who told me that they do not stretch anymore because they have lower back pain. That lower back pain which was brought on by stretching, was caused by an attempt to stretch another muscle group, but not the back, such as hamstrings, adductors, etc., But during a compound stretch the lower back was mobilized to the point of strained muscle or even herniated disc.
I remember taking yoga when I was in college and it was taught by a very knowledgeable professor. She has been trained in different types of yoga, Pilates, Dance techniques, Alexander technique and many others. And during one of the sessions, one of the students asked her what she can do about her pain. She said that when she does sitting forward bend to stretch the hamstrings she feels pain, in her lower back. I was very curious to see what my professor’s response would be. The professor told the student to focus on her hamstring muscles, breeze into hamstring muscles, and try to relax the hamstring muscles. And of course, that is one way to do it. This approach has worked for some people but not for everyone.
In the EasyFlexibility system we take a different approach:
In the EasyFlexibility system we take a different approach: We do not stretch two legs together until each leg is flexible. We isolate the muscles as much as possible. For example: when doing a forward bend, isolate the glute, the lower adductors, the lateral hamstring, the medial hamstring and the sciatic nerve. In simple terms it’s easier to stretch one rubber band, than 5 or 6 rubber bands at the same time.
Strengthening the muscles is very important as well. And not just the target muscles, hamstrings in this case, but also the back, so that the back is strong enough to contract and allow the stretch to go where it needs to go. And of course, this becomes less necessary when the muscle that isolated using Zaichik Stretching Techniques. The same would be if we were talking about the hip flexors or the adductors, or even if we went into the upper body, and talked about the shoulder joint and the shoulder girdle and how the back compensates when those muscles are tight.
The second example of course I’ll mention is the hip flexors, it’s extremely difficult to stretch all the hip flexors and all the adductors while not moving the spine, while not hyperextending the lower back. Most people will hyperextend the lower back. Instead of stretching the hip flexors.
Isolating the hip flexors one by one, while it definitely takes longer because you are doing more stretches as opposed to just doing one single lunge stretch. The progress is a lot faster, and the chance of injury is greatly reduced.
If you are having lower back pain I would suggest isolating the muscles. Building strength and awareness in the part of the body which is too mobile. In majority of cases this will ensure that the lower back is not being overstretched. Is not the weakest link. Is being protected. While you are still getting flexibility where you actually want to get it. For more information about the Zaichik Stretching Techniques please take a look at the EFTC Online Training Certification Course.
GET CERTIFIED AS AN EASYFLEXIBILITY INSTRUCTOR!
With our certifications you will be able to:
Teach at home!
Do one-on-one training sessions
Do group classes
Teach at your studio
The possibilities are endless!
THIS CERTIFICATION COURSE INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:
Detailed instructions on how to teach, what to do, what not to do, how to properly put together training sessions.
FREE PROGRAMS of your choice: Your choice of digital videos is an added bonus to obtaining this certifications. It allows for a better idea of how Zaichik Stretching Techniques are combined to form specific routines.
Access to a Private Support Forum: Believe it or not – this is one of the most important elements of a program as it forms the right attitude towards the program. Upon registration for the course you gain an access to the private support forum, where you have a 24-hour active community to share your experience with, ask questions and seek advice.
Getting promoted for free on our social media (more than 250 thousand followers).
Listing in our private directory of EasyFlexibility Certified Instructors which allow you to be put on a list to be connected with potential clients that reach out to us.
Access to our STRETCH180 APP’s features for Instructors only to help with student retention.
You think you’re doing a split but you’re not! Stop cheating yourself! 10 issues that are preventing you from doing a True Front Split, reasons and solutions.
If you have been faking a split, you’re only cheating yourself. Here’s how to see if your True Front Split is fake or real.
I decided to write this article because over the years and few times recently people would send me a picture of their split. And when I tell them that they are not really doing a True Front Split, they get a little bit upset. It is somewhat of an unpleasant news when you think you have achieved a skill and someone in authority tells you that you have not.
This article will address how to spot and incorrect split. The various ways of seeing an incorrect split. Perhaps cheating is not the best term, simply because, not everyone is trying to cheat some people honestly believe that they have mastered a True Front Split. But True Front Split is a specific skill. Just because someone has their leg up doesn’t mean that they are doing a Kick. A Roundhouse Kick is not a Side Kick. A Back Attitude is not an Arabesque. Something that looks similar to something else is not exactly it.
I’m talking about some purely from extended position point of view and not from an actual skill. Because of course from the skill point of view you would see that a Roundhouse is not a Side Kick but sometimes people do something that’s in between. And the same applies to a True Front Split where there is a way to a little twist here, a little tweak there, a little bend here, a little rotation there. So, it’s best to know and it’s very simple. Here I’m going to address all the possible adjustments to lack of flexibility in specific muscle, or group of muscles, I have seen over the years.
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First, I need to describe what a target skill is before I talk about what it is not. Since there are people who will do this skill differently than I described, and then it’s not a mistake, it is just how the body is positioned for a specific style, or need, or requirement.
A description of a True Front Split is very simple. The hips are squared forward. One hip is not behind the other. They are at the same level. both legs the front and the back legs are straight. the kneecap of the front leg is pointing up. and the kneecap of the back leg is pointing down. ideally the back of the front leg and the front of the back leg are touching the floor.
Issue #1 – The Front Leg is Turned Out.
If ou perform the split in your style, in your school, with a turn out then it’s not a mistake for you. But according to a standardized description I gave earlier it is a mistake. There are people who can do a True Front Split on the floor, but they can only do it with the leg turned out. So, the kneecap is going to point to the side and not up to the ceiling. Assuming the whole structure is fine except for the front leg, then most likely the problem is in the Lateral Hamstring, the Long Head of the Biceps Femoris of the front leg. Yeah of course there are other muscles that rotate the hip out but usually they’re not the issue as much as the Long Head of the Lateral Hamstring. Now this is assuming that the whole structure is correct. If the whole structure is not correct, the hips are not even, and the back leg is turned out, or something else, we may have an issue coming from somewhere else and not the front leg although it is the front leg that is turned out.
Issue #2 – The Back Leg is Turned Out.
The kneecap is not facing down it’s facing out to the side. If this is how you perform your splits for your specific needs, it’s fine but it’s not a hip squared True Front Split it’s something else. If indeed you are trying to do a split as described above but you can only do it with your rear leg turned out, then of course the issue is in the muscles of the back leg that turn the hip out. It means that they are not flexible enough to allow the hip to turn in. Most often the issue is in the Tensor Fasciae Lata and in the Sartorius of the back leg. Both issues are easily fixed with isolating those muscles with Zaichik Stretching Techniques (ZST’s).
Just like with the front leg if the structure is off then the problem may not be in the back leg in those muscles it might be somewhere else we’re talking about everything is as described above except just for that back leg. Please keep in mind that we are talking about just the muscles here. We are not talking about the ligaments. We’re not talking about the scar tissue in the ligaments or anything else in the ligaments, just talking about the muscles.
Issue # 3 – Tight Hip Flexors and Adductors.
A cheating technique that looks good in the picture but it’s not a real split. Everything is good the hips are squared front leg turned in, back leg turned in, everything is good and yet the person is leaning forward and placing their body onto the front leg, so it looks like someone did a split and then just leaned forward if you look at just the end point of that on a picture.
But in actuality, this person might be cheating for the picture and I have seen quite a lot of people who do this this. They have very flexible front leg, very flexible extensors of the hip, hamstrings and other muscles that extend the hip, and yet they have very tight hip flexors and adductors, on the back leg. So they can’t do a split with their body being vertical so they lean forward and it looks like they just did that but they didn’t just do that they did it because they cannot be vertical because there is issue with the back leg flexibility.
On the side note there are a lot more people that have flexible hamstrings than flexible hip flexors and in some cases adductors. so when I meet people like that I recommend our hip flexors program big beginner or advanced depending on what they need because they already have good flexibility in their front leg and they need to focus on their back legs specifically to get a True Front Split.
True Front Split Strength & Flexibility Training at Home COMPLETE COMBO – ALL 3 LEVELS – BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED
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What I see very often is when people have hips that are not squared, they will still try to rotate the spine and turn toward the front leg. So that the shoulders are squared, but the hips will not be squared. What’s interesting is when hips are not squared, most likely the back leg is not going to be turned in. There’s going to be kneecap at least partially out to the side, maybe not completely, but at least partially.
The only exceptions I’ve seen to this is in children. children can get away with this a little bit because they can have hips that are not squared and yet have very good internal rotation of the back leg where there is still kneecap facing down and this is just because they have such a good internal rotation of the back leg. For most people if the hips and not squared the front of the back leg will not face down to the floor. The issue here in most cases is the front leg. the hip cannot be squared to the front leg, so you see the back leg doing turn out and the reason is usually the Lateral Hamstring of the front leg. sometimes these people can square the hips. But if they square the hips there’s going to be a problem popping up somewhere else and that’s usually there’s going to be a turn out of the front leg so if the front leg is the kneecap facing up the hips are not squared. And if the hips are squared the front leg will turn out. When I see that I know that it is a lateral hamstring, and if there is it’s a major problem it’s pretty easy to fix with the Zaichik Stretching Techniques focusing on the Lateral Hamstring. I could tell you that these techniques actually became quite popular especially with the people that are having this issue.
Issue # 5 – Sciatic Nerve
The other problem that I see and it’s a less common problem, but it does happen, is a problem was a sciatic nerve. We have a ZST that focuses on everything behind the knee but not the muscle. This is a very unique ZST, its actions are of what is not connected by the muscle. It’s not a true ZST in a sense of muscle, but it works very well for the people with the nerve or fascia issue who cannot do a True Front Split due to the problem with the front leg.
Issue # 6 – Front Leg is Bent
Another issue that can come up and it’s a lot less common is when the front leg is bent. A person has hips squared, both legs are turned properly, but the front leg is bent. Most often when you see that the front leg is bent you’ll also see a person leaning forward a little bit, and placing their hands on the floor.
Often than not although it looks like the front leg is not flexible because the knee is bent at the front leg it’s actually the back leg is not flexible and the person is forced to lean forward away from the inflexible back leg. And a little investigation is usually needed to see which muscles are tight on the back leg or if there is some kind of an issue with the hip joint that is not allowing a person to stay vertical.
True Front Split Strength & Flexibility Training at Home COMPLETE COMBO – ALL 3 LEVELS – BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED
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Issue # 7 – Lack of Flexibility in the Muscles of the Back Leg
The next issue is when a person who is performing the True Front Split is cheating with the back and hamstring flexibility. It’s rather common and happens a lot. If you are not looking for it you will miss it. It is very similar to the person who is leaning forward into the front leg, except now, instead of leaning forward, they come up. But they don’t come up by extending the back hip, they come up by hyperextending the spine. So the flexibility of their hamstrings is good, flexibility of their spine is good, but the flexibility of the muscles of their back leg is poor.
And the reason why this is so common is because a lot of people do the split by pushing into their hamstrings. Getting into a false split where the legs are 180 degrees apart, but the body is forward. so they know they have to get the body up to vertical and they begin to push the body up. For most people it’s a lot easier to hyperextend the spine then to extend the hip so the spine begins to get more flexible, and nothing happens at the hip. remember that there’s so many tight muscles in the hip and it’s very difficult to just stretch them altogether if you isolate them again with Zaichik Stretching Techniques it’s so much faster and simpler to stretch them and actually get flexibility in the hip and not fake it by extending the back.
Issue #8 – Front leg is not in front
So next issue, yes there are that many. When you watch people do splits for so many years, you spot many different little adjustments and mechanisms.
The next one looks like this the hip squared the back leg is turned in properly, the front leg is turned in properly, but the font leg is not in front, the front leg is a little bit to the side. Standing behind the person and you looking at them the front leg is not hidden by the body when you’re staying behind them, it’s actually out to the side so you could see the front leg while watching a person from the back. And the issue again here usually is the lateral hamstring. I see people do that quite often. When a picture is taken from a side you cannot see it too well unless you know what to look for. But if you look at the person directly from the back or from the front you will see it. Again Lateral Hamstring is the problem here. Providing that the whole structure is correct if not the problem could be somewhere else and the focus should be on the Lateral Hamstring. But if there is a hyperextension of the spine and the problem is in the back hip then It’s not just the lateral hamstring where the issue is.
True Front Split Strength & Flexibility Training at Home COMPLETE COMBO – ALL 3 LEVELS – BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED
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And finally sometimes people do this little cheating mechanism where it looks like they’re in a split but from the side it’s hard to see. You could see it from the front that the body is not vertical. The torso is leaning one side. And this is usually to take the pressure off the opposite leg so if the right leg is in front and the person is leaning to the left to take the pressure off the front right leg. Person is leaning to the right it is to take the pressure off the back left leg. And it’s also another cheating mechanism.
#10 – Toes are pointed.
I was debating to talk about this point because the True Front Split is done different but this is about the pointing of the front foot or not. In other words, pushing the front toes, the toes of the front leg away from you or not. A lot of people perform the True Front Split with the toes pointed. I perform it with the toes pulled back. It’s easier to point the toes for most people than pull them back. If you point the toes because this is how you do it for your purpose, then it’s fine. But if you are trying to do a split with the toes pulled up and you are only pointing them because you cannot pull them up due to the lack of flexibility of the front leg then it’s also sort of a cheating mechanism.
Remember we’re all different and due to how the body is structured and what kind of occupation someone has or injury. Even infections, yes infections in the muscles and nerves and joints, there may be chronic infections. All of these factors can get a person to try to cheat a little bit one way or the other to kind of play up their strengths and play down the weakness to do a split but it may not be a a complete split as is described above.
True Front Split Strength & Flexibility Training at Home COMPLETE COMBO – ALL 3 LEVELS – BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED
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If you are ready to do effortless Splits ANYTIME that you wish with a training method that is Easy, Pain Free and Fast, that is designed to work naturally with your body and keep your flexibility for years to come, then join thousands of satisfied EasyFlexibility practitioners and START YOUR TRAINING TODAY!
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Like many other blog posts this one comes from repeated questions that I would like to answer.
First of all, what is the difference between an isolated stretch versus non-isolated stretch?
Let’s look at concrete examples: A standard lunge stretch which targets a “hip flexor” is a non-isolated stretch. When you do a lunge, whether your back knee is on the floor, or your back knee is off the floor, and you try to move your hip forward, in front of the back knee you are stretching a lot of muscles at the same time. You are stretching the 6 hip flexors the 4 adductors, and possibly even some of the abductors, some of the anterior muscle groups located on the outside of your hip. So that is 10 muscles being stretched at the same time.
If you’ve tried this stretch and were not very successful in it you can probably understand why. Because a lot of strong type muscles are stretched at the same time. Now, if you wanted to isolate each one of those, you can. You can do them one by one, and if you did that, this would be isolated stretching techniques.
“Well how do you isolate these muscles? Is that even possible?”
Of course, the big question is “Well how do you isolate these muscles? Is that even possible?”. The answer is yes. Because these muscles all do different things it’s easy to isolate. Each muscle does something different. They all flex the hip, but some also adduct, abduct, internally rotate, externally rotate, some cross the knee, some don’t. By adjusting the position of your body, you can isolate these muscles. This will make the stretching a lot easier and usually with an instant progress seen.
In the EasyFlexibility Online Training Certification Course (EFTC) we cover all major muscles. How each one works. And using the kinesiology of the muscles, how to isolate them.
Another example would be a simple over the head shoulder flexibility or anatomical flexion of the shoulder. This is where you bring your arms straight up over your head. For example, simply pulling your arm over your head, such as when hanging from a bar. Or doing a one arm pull up, is stretching all the muscles together. Let’s call this a combination stretch.
Here, depending on position of the body, all these muscles get stretched at the same time: Latissimus Dorsi, Teres Major, Subscapularis, sternal part of Pectoralis Major, Pectoralis Minor, Rhomboids, even Levator scapulae, Posterior Deltoid, Infraspinatus, and Teres Minor. Some of them are movers of the shoulder joint, some of themare movers of the shoulder girdle, or the scapula, etc. And all of them are being stretched at the same time. Which makes for a very slow and inefficient progress.
Of course, all of these muscles can easily be isolated with the Zaichik Stretching Techniques. Zaichik Stretching Techniques (ZST’s) are all isolated stretches. ZST’s are not passive isolated stretches. Zaichik Stretching Techniques have Target and Leverage mechanisms. Without becoming too technical, the basic ZST modality implies that one move is the “helper”, this is your Leverage. And the other move is your Target, the direction where you want to get deeper. The helper or Leverage will move back and forth, the Target will always go deeper.
GET CERTIFIED AS AN EASYFLEXIBILITY INSTRUCTOR!
With our certifications you will be able to:
Teach at home!
Do one-on-one training sessions
Do group classes
Teach at your studio
The possibilities are endless!
THIS CERTIFICATION COURSE INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:
Detailed instructions on how to teach, what to do, what not to do, how to properly put together training sessions.
FREE PROGRAMS of your choice: Your choice of digital videos is an added bonus to obtaining this certifications. It allows for a better idea of how Zaichik Stretching Techniques are combined to form specific routines.
Access to a Private Support Forum: Believe it or not – this is one of the most important elements of a program as it forms the right attitude towards the program. Upon registration for the course you gain an access to the private support forum, where you have a 24-hour active community to share your experience with, ask questions and seek advice.
Getting promoted for free on our social media (more than 250 thousand followers).
Listing in our private directory of EasyFlexibility Certified Instructors which allow you to be put on a list to be connected with potential clients that reach out to us.
Access to our STRETCH180 APP’s features for Instructors only to help with student retention.
It is a completely different story for someone who is older or someone who is very tight.
When someone is young and healthy and well warmed up, very often they get results just by doing a general over the head stretch. This doesn’t work all the time, but a young and healthy person can get flexible using regular static stretching. However, it is a completely different story for someone who is older or someone who is very tight.
Gymnasts are supposed to be very flexible. However, doing and iron cross, a muscle up, and many different power techniques that require extension, front lever being an example, make the muscles so tight that sometimes they have difficulty extending the arms overhead. While this may sound strange, I came across cases like these, and when that happens, isolating helps quite a lot. Doing ZST’s helps to bring the arms overhead and have a straight line. For example, doing handstand pushups without having a bent.
Another case where isolating makes a huge difference is if someone has an injury.
Another case where isolating makes a huge difference is if someone has an injury. I remember this one case where someone had an injury to their shoulder preventing the arm from being lifted for several months following the injury. There was a huge difference between the left and right side and ZST’s helped to focus on the tight muscles, isolate them, get good shoulder flexibility quickly and restore it to normal range of motion, where it was before the injury.
As people age, isolating the muscles and focusing on the tighter ones becomes more and more of a great tool. I remember another case where a tennis player had poor flexibility in the shoulder, and it was getting worse, to a point where it was becoming difficult to do proper serves. And in his case, it was actually the shoulder girdle that was causing the problem, not so much to shoulder joint. And when he was doing the general overhead stretch his tight muscles were not lengthening too much, but instead the loose ones were. This is what was putting pressure on the shoulder joint. To get his shoulder girdle moving, he did ZST’s specific to the Rhomboids, Levator scapulae and Pectoralis Minor. Following this program, his range of motion began to improve quickly and without pain, and playing tennis became a lot more enjoyable.
If you are interested in learning Zaichik Stretching Techniques which isolate muscles and use Target & Leverage mechanisms to stretch the muscles quickly and safely without pain then take a look at the EFTC.
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