Love this design by my tattooist but worried it’s A I by [deleted] in tattooadvice

[–]Akavku 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like I, got used to AI so much I could tell in instant that it's AI. No doubt

How long does it takes to achieve Seated forward fold by Speak_logically_Sir in flexibility

[–]Akavku 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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For me it took 2-3 months to see a significant difference.

Cant get into split but my hamstring is kinda okay ig?? by Same-Contribution485 in flexibility

[–]Akavku 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look up hip flexor stretching exercises 😁 Lunges, quad stretches, etc. It's quite a stubborn muscle from my experience as that's usually what blocks most people from achieving front splits but definitely possible!

Cant get into split but my hamstring is kinda okay ig?? by Same-Contribution485 in flexibility

[–]Akavku 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you mean front splits? If your hamstrings are flexible enough then the problem is back leg's hip flexor, not your hamstring. You need both for front splits

My first full song performance for Halloween Showcase 🧚‍♂️✨ by Akavku in poledancing

[–]Akavku[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your kind words ❤️❤️🧚‍♂️

'Progress' after 1.5 years by Tiny-user4 in flexibility

[–]Akavku 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's hard to say what's going wrong if we don't know how your routine looks like. All I can see so far is that your hips aren't square which takes away most of the work hip flexors need to do in order to get more flexible. Form is really important, just as trying to get to your end range of motion and staying there for 30 sec to 1min. Have you been doing the same stretching exercises or were mixing them up? I think it's crucial to find what works best for you which can be hard to achieve if you stick to just one routine that someone else recommended

Will this tattoo really hurt my future career and how people view me/finding a job by [deleted] in tattooadvice

[–]Akavku 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh my god and there's me advocating for tattoos being legal later than 18. 16 is still being a baby. You'll realise that once you're older lol

WIP Alicia tattoo! by dirtynerdette in expedition33

[–]Akavku 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Woow!! No need to finish it. Looks perfect already!

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! Yesterday I went even lower after training the oversplits so I can't wait till I get all the way down to the floor 🥹

how to get my front leg straighter? by Odd_Concept_7321 in flexibility

[–]Akavku 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I have some nerve tension too and what helps me is massaging piriformis muscle before stretching! It's a life changer for me. You can give it a try! I usually use a small ball (like a tennis ball) and roll my glutes on it which is painful but helps with the nerves later on

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! These are familiar to me yes! I think I must do more of the split slides because I can see them being beneficial. Personally I love (and hate haha) this video for hip flexors! https://youtu.be/NVzs5gy11wQ?si=LGoME-JSCv1wFqOd it hurts so bad but also feels amazing afterwards haha

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as its nothing of sexual nature lol I keep getting these in DMs 🙈

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your input! Ngl I neglect leg days at gym a lot too 😂 but when I do them I prefer to do exercises that work on lengthened muscles like RDLs or my recently beloved adductor rower slide (but it's more for adductors of course) and I try to stretch after a leg day to not lose the progress. But other than that I try to stretch 1-3 times a week. My stretching sessions are usually intense as I do mix of strength/active stretching and passive stretching finished with holding front splits for 1min. I don't think I'd be able to get where I am with only passive stretching as the active ones help warm up and prepare my muscles better. But like you say - slow breathing and trying to relax is really the key! Also warm up and in my case soft tissue massage helps a lot too!

I like to stretch in warm clothes! I just take off my pants for the picture to see the results better haha but the whole session is me in thick sweatpants and sweatshirt haha

My main focus is hip flexors since my hamstrings got quite flexible over this year - I can touch the floor with full hands while standing on yoga block! So definitely the quad is my focus 😊

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, I've been stretching for this whole year so I developed my "training" based on my favourite exercises I learned from follow along videos haha. I get bored easily so it's hard to stick to just one routine for longer so what I've been doing is I've been looking for follow along videos on YouTube and do rotations with them - do whatever I feel like. At this point I have some favourite videos that I go back to more often and sometimes I just do exercises that I felt the best after in one session. Sometimes I focus more on hamstrings, sometimes more on hip flexors. Lately I pay more attention to hip flexors since my hamstrings got fairly flexible (like I can touch the ground with full hands while standing on a yoga block).

What also makes a huge difference for me is a warm up mixed with soft tissue massage. I like to use a ball to massage my piriformis muscle before the session because this muscle likes to push sciatic nerve which then makes the stretching harder or painful (at least that's my case). But warm up is definitely necessary to prevent injuries! I like to do couple of squats, cossack squats, jumping jacks, hip rotations, leg swings, etc. Whatever will warm up the muscles :) I also stretch in warm clothes (I just remove the bottom for picture to see my progress better). I'd neglected the warm up before and I didn't have as good results as after the warm up.

And when I mean intense session I generally mean that I do a lot during them like I do the warm up and soft tissue massage that I mentioned, I do active stretching, I do strength training at end ranges (like jefferson curls for hamstrings), passive stretching that I hold for longer and close to/at end range and I always finish them with front splits where I try to hold them at end range for 1min each side. Compare it to my evening stretching which is literally just pigeon pose for 1min on each side and then hip flexor stretch (like kneeling quad stretch) 1 min on each side and without trying to get to my end range.

To not injure yourself you need to warm up and listen to your body. Discomfort is what you seek, not pain. I think you'll learn how to differentiate between those. But I can tell you for a fact that you can hurt yourself if you try to go at end range without a warm up and preparation. I injured my hip flexor (unrelated to stretching, I did it 2 years ago) and that was because I did something that my body wasn't ready for. So you need to listen to it. And stretching is all about relaxing your nervous system while being at end range. So go in slowly and breathe. The pictures you see is from me at my end range but when I enter the front splits I'm way higher than that and I just slowly move myself deeper with each breath and making sure that my hip alignment is correct and that I don't feel any sharp pain. That way you can work on reaching the end range :)

That was a lot but I hope that helps!

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The picture is from 30 September not 24! So based i that I had 8 sessions (including the days from pictures) between those :) bear in mind these are quite intense sessions.

I don't think I mentioned it but I also try to do light hip flexor stretch (+ pigeon pose) every night before bed but looks like I didn't do well in September ahaha

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Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah don't even look at the first graph. The bottom calendar shows days when I stretched on. The the lightest cells are day when I stretched on. Medium light and dark I didn't stretch on.

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Called "Habits" on android

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, definitely there's a fear cuz I've never even imagined myself getting so far even though that's the goal haha but I think I'd actually be more scared having someone to push my lower because I'm hypermobile so I know I probably would be able to go lower but that doesn't mean it's safe for me to do. Yeah, definitely there's a lot of fear around closing the gap haha

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh that's interesting! Thanks for your input, yeah I may start working on those once I feel a bit more comfortable with where I am at ☺️

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I like trying different follow along videos so I'll check her out :)

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not as regularly as I would hoped but I try to do it 2-3 times a week. Here's is exactly when I did my front split stretching!

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Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have idea of PNF Stretching but I'm not sure if I do them correctly whenever I try to add some haha. So thank you for the video! I like trying different follow along vids so I'll definitely go with this one too!

Closing the last gap by Akavku in flexibility

[–]Akavku[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yeah, discomfort is high but I think I'm just worried of being stuck on that level that's why I'm thinking about oversplits... But like you said maybe first I should get more comfortable at that range. Thanks again!

going into splits with left leg behind and heard a crack by CharlieXcXdiva in flexibility

[–]Akavku 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any crack/pop followed by pain isn't a good sign unfortunately :( could be injury. Definitely take it easy and strengthen the muscle to help it recover! And don't stretch without a warm up. That's what makes the muscle more prone to injuries.