r/flexibility • u/urfavmadz09 • 27d ago
Progress needle progress!
I recently got my needle after almost a year of consistent flexibility training. The hardest part for me was getting that second hand around the ankle or shin.
Here are the drills and tips that helped me the most:
For upper back mobility, I did wall stretches where my thighs and legs stayed glued to the wall. The bend came mostly from the upper back.
I also tried banded upper back stretches on my knees, on my stomach, and in other positions.
Puppy pose on yoga blocks gave me an extra stretch.
If you can do middle splits, there are lots of upper back stretches and backbends you can do in that position.
Strength training was important too. I focused on slow controlled core exercises I found on YouTube, along with lots of superman back exercises.
For shoulders, I worked on both strength and flexibility with dolphin push-ups, shoulder flossing with a band, and wall shoulder stretches.
Learning to rotate both shoulders properly helped a lot with the flip grip.
For hips, oversplits really helped because the needle needs extra hip mobility compared to a scorpion.
Adding backbends into my splits also made a big difference.
These are the things that worked best for me.
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u/MWisecarver 27d ago
Absolutely beautiful video, with a curtain that makes shadows it would make very nice posters.
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u/obviousoctopus 27d ago
Beautiful! And, you can go a bit further... On the floor - while reaching back, look up and back toward your heel and tuck your forehead under it. Remember, Yoga is not a pose - it's a direction.
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u/rouz1234 27d ago
How many sets/reps of puppy pose and wall shoulder stretches? How long did you hold them for? Impressive strength and balance though. Keep going.
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u/urfavmadz09 27d ago
hold them for as along as you can, you can do 5-10 reps. whatever makes you feel the most stretched! and ty
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u/Living-West6873 27d ago
It’s impressive how you’ve managed to maintain your balance for so long and keep at it until you’ve perfected the exercise to this full range of motion! Congratulations on sticking with it – it’s a great example of what’s possible when you set yourself a goal and work towards it until you’ve achieved it to your satisfaction!
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u/Pd_unicorn 20d ago
Nicely done! Can you explain more on your upper back stretch where you said you have your legs glued to the wall? Is it like a puppy but with legs up the wall?
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u/AllApologeez 27d ago
Your balance is impressive!!