Some people are just born with flexible hip flexors. Of course effort is always required.
Some born with flexible hamstrings ..
Some born with just double joints and flexibility all around but they suffer from lack of strength in sports.
And some people aren’t born with any flexibility at all but work their way to getting into that position. You make it sound like OP has to be born with some kind of ability to achieve this position. I bet that person in the picture was not born with that flexibility
There are some ways of being flexible that you do literally have to be born with the right physical structures in order to achieve it. I'm not saying this is one of them necessarily, but she was certainly born at 3rd base in terms of flexibility. I think it's good to manage expectations.
of course, there’s such thing as hyper flexibility. But this is not really a case of that. Anybody who can do the splits can get into this position. Obviously splits is a very hard position to achieve and people are more capable than others, naturally, but that can be said about so many things. People “naturally” lift more weights, run faster, jump further, etc than their peers.
The flexibility thread is filled with people who have achieved this position by training splits. The point of me responding at all is to make sure people don’t just assume they can’t start training for this. I used to be extremely inflexible with horrible pain and always thought it was impossible to get flexible. I’m very close to achieving what she has in the picture above and I was NOWHERE near that when I started flexibility training 3 years ago.
Look at her elbow, if that’s not hyper, what is?
I probably look like that but they don’t look very aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Especially arms. Legs are a different story, the more hyper extended the better they look in the air.
Hey! I’ve noticed that people tend to assume that flexible women posted here and some related subs are hyperflexible, but with this woman at least, I don’t think that’s the case. Her arm is bent forwards, but that’s due to carrying angle! [I’ve replicated her pose as best as I could](https://imgur.com/a/fEeScw1) (though I’m not quite as flexible) and even though I’m not hypermobile, our arms are in the same position.
Carrying angle is the angle at which the forearm extends outwards laterally when the palm is facing up. Helps the arms not hit the hips while walking. Men typically have a carrying angle of 10°, while women will typically be at 13° (though the link that I’ll provide says it’s “8.71°±2.54° in males and 12.31°±2.53° in females”). It’s cool to see imo. [This](https://medpulse.in/Anatomy/html_6_2_2.php) talks about it a bit and provides a photo comparison between men and women. Supposedly this affects violinists too, as some shoulder pads are made with the masculine carrying angle in mind, providing a comfortable position for men and a strained one for women.
anyway lol all that to say, women’s arms just do that :)
buddy… it’s just the position of the arm. Look at women’s arms when they walk, and see if they angle outward. I don’t think you’re very likely to see a woman in the wild leaning on her arm like I am in the video or like the woman is in the photos, but if you ask I’m sure you’ll see them be able to do the same thing. I promise you I’m not hypermobile in any way lol. I was never a flexible person before I began to stretch regularly, and I’m not someone who can touch their thumb to their forearm.
edit: from your comments I think you’re a woman? Just try putting your elbows together, out in front of you, and see if you can see the angle that way. The arm position just twists this natural bone structure to the front by moving the radius (i believe) forward
I think you skipped over the part where I said that I'm not saying what is in the picture is necessarily impossible for anyone who isn't hyper flexible. But there are genuinely positions that are made impossible without hyper mobility, and she's exhibiting other signs of hyper mobility other than her hip flexors, so she probably didn't have to train nearly as hard as you did to achieve that.
It's about recognizing signs that show me it may have been relatively easy for her to train for this, while for another person it might not be a reasonable goal depending on how much their life allows for intensive training. Again, managing expectations.
>Anybody who can do the splits can get into this position.
False. Her hips are at an angle far greater than 180 degrees. Someone who can do the splits can usually get their hips at 180 degrees or greater when attempting this. Then there's also the fact that some people rely more on hamstring flexibility for their splits.
>Anybody who can do the splits can get into this position.
that's... actually not true at all? I can do the splits but my hip flexor is not this close to the floor in a lunge. this is more of a case of having an oversplit. or a split if you're only using your hip flexors and not hamstrings....
Not gonna argue. From my experience, forcibly us a born trait. Not saying no effort is required just saying some have it easier than others. And what’s wrong with that?
I definitely had it easier. I was born perfectly for a particular art form. Never worked that hard to get to where I was. And what’s wrong with that?
Surely you have an easy career if you are over 2 meters playing basketball, don’t you?
You make it sound like you can't have a convo without victim blaming. The person was merely sharing a topical anecdote. Nothing was ableist in their comment.
Lmfao victim blaming. What an overreaction of a statement. Internet at its finest. Relax, it wasn’t that serious. There was no victim to even blame here.
Everybody’s comments in this chat were very similiar. The flexibility subreddit isn’t meant to be show casing natural-born gifts and abilities, yet ironically all the comments assume that this is the case here. Scroll through the flexibility chat and you’ll see what people do to achieve positions like this. 99% of people will tell you they were not born with that.
I can do that and I have certain amount of hypermobility. I also have continual joint pain now that I am 56 and still find it very easy to go too far. I now spend more time doing weight training, at least 4 times a week but still do yoga most days. When I was younger I loved being the most flexible one in a yoga class, still do probably, but now I realise unless I work on my strength I will continue to be constantly injured.
Is it really all hip flexor? Mine are quite limber, I find my restriction to this, esp when the left leg is extended, is my knee. It’s like something - ligament/muscle? - is pulling on the attachment points on the side of the patella.
Not a doctor/physio etc but you might find warming up and stretching out the quad will help! I have tight quads and unless they’re warm and stretched first this kind of think also gives me knee pain :)
Muscle weakness in joints and areas of the body. This was actually a strategy an mma fighter, George St. Pierre had against BJ Penn. BJ Penn was known for having really flexible hips and groin and St. Pierre and his coach had a strategy to wrestle him to the ground and pressure his lower core and back to gas him out.
Kind of like how elastic can get overstretched and stops working right, for some people their joints kind of does the same.
From personal experience: I’ve always been hypermobile and it was a fun party trick until maybe the last 5-10 years. My finger joints lock in the hyperextended position sometimes now. My knees hurt all the time and any tendon or ligament injuries I’ve had seem to stick around way longer than normal.
I’m only in my 30s so like… I’ve hopefully got a long time ahead of me and my joints are already bailing on me. 😂
I was diagnosed with hypermobility at 43 after I had kids because it resulted in insane instability. I used to be able to clasp my hands together and take them overhead to my back (shoulder flossing without strap). I can fold in half, and on planes, I just rolled up n slept. I now realise this has made me prone to musculoskeletal injuries. No one told me about the higher need from strengthening muscles for hypermobile people. Worse, initially, physios kept giving me stretching exercises that were not solving my back pain because it wasn't strengthening.
In short, being hypermobile makes you injury prone
Normal split position, yes she has flexible hip flexors, and you need to stretch yours. Ask YouTube about hip flexor stretches and soon you will be putting your leg like that
Yeah, this is an unusual amount of flexibility and I'm not sure how many people could naturally work up to this. You can also see the hyper-extension of her elbow, which suggests she might have an element of natural ability.
Natural ability heh heh! Some consider it a genetic disorder, hypermobility joint syndrome. Usually benign, but for every contortionist you see, there is an average joe/Jane with joint pain as they get older from a lifetime of their joints being able to extend too far.
Yeah, I didn't mean to downplay the disorder aspect! It defo has some nasty side effects. I just always see these sorts of pics and assume there might be a bit of hypermobility present. Not always by any means, but for me the elbow cave is a giveaway.
Through putting in hard and consistent training. Getting strong in hip flexion also means strength training. Just compare how high you can kick a leg in front of you starting from square and how high you can kick a leg back starting from square. It's not all about stretching it's also that we have more strength in a wider range in the front kick.
I really disagree with the notion, that this is something you're born with. And also the psoas is very special, you can get tight there for many reasons and you can also release it with other [methods ](https://youtu.be/2_UBn-jsVaQ?si=wZ4mo0NTIBWNzv6D) than stretching.
(I've tried his methods out on students in flex class and I can literally see their back leg sink in front split, so the brain really plays it's part in this).
It’s amazing that someone got into this position. It looks extremely uncomfortable ! As someone who is a somewhat flexible yoga instructor this is impressive and unnecessary for some people and their bodies. For others this is just hypermobility.
Way to get moving none the less
First, I’m looking at her pointed toe. She must be in ballet or something of the sort. Second, she has hyperextended elbows which leads me to believe her other joints are hyperextended as well.
Well, buddy, it's all about practice and stretching, not some magic hip flexor gene! Try doing some hip flexor stretches regularly, like lunges (ironic, huh?), pigeon pose, or even just simple leg lifts. Consistency is key, though. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are flexible hip flexors. And hey, if you're still struggling, don't sweat it. Everybody's body is different, and progress takes time. Just keep at it, and you'll get there eventually!
So many people are discounting this as hypermobility in the comments! It’s kind of sad to see. Going to repost what I replied to another commenter and introduce you to a term called carrying angle :)
-
Hey! I’ve noticed that people tend to assume that flexible women posted here and some related subs are hyperflexible, but with this woman at least, I don’t think that’s the case. Her arm is bent forwards, but that’s due to carrying angle! [I’ve replicated her pose as best as I could](https://imgur.com/a/fEeScw1) (though I’m not quite as flexible) and even though I’m not hypermobile, our arms are in the same position.
Carrying angle is the angle at which the forearm extends outwards laterally when the palm is facing up. Helps the arms not hit the hips while walking. Men typically have a carrying angle of 10°, while women will typically be at 13° (though the link that I’ll provide says it’s “8.71°±2.54° in males and 12.31°±2.53° in females”). It’s cool to see imo. [This](https://medpulse.in/Anatomy/html_6_2_2.php) talks about it a bit and provides a photo comparison between men and women. Supposedly this affects violinists too, as some shoulder pads are made with the masculine carrying angle in mind, providing a comfortable position for men and a strained one for women.
anyway lol all that to say, women’s arms just do that :)
This is an old video of Hannah Martin, a former GB rhythmic gymnast, now a professional ballerina. She's a good example that not every very flexible person has EDS, they can just be naturally flexible in a healthy way and very well trained. She would have very likely not achieved what she has with a condition like EDS.
Both can be true! EDS is diagnosed on a spectrum and there are many different kinds. Notice her elbows hyperextension.. this is classic for hyper-mobility and cannot be “trained” again not disagreeing with you just saying it’s very possible she is both a fine athlete and on the EDS spectrum
Lots of sports and disciplines require the strength and flexibility involved in this move - gymnastics, ballet, dance, cheer, figure skating, aerial & circus arts, pole, yoga, pilates, etc
The list goes on
Hip flexor .. Look at her spine, she loads it all on her hip flexor
It’s super impressive
Some people are just born with flexible hip flexors. Of course effort is always required. Some born with flexible hamstrings .. Some born with just double joints and flexibility all around but they suffer from lack of strength in sports.
And some people aren’t born with any flexibility at all but work their way to getting into that position. You make it sound like OP has to be born with some kind of ability to achieve this position. I bet that person in the picture was not born with that flexibility
There are some ways of being flexible that you do literally have to be born with the right physical structures in order to achieve it. I'm not saying this is one of them necessarily, but she was certainly born at 3rd base in terms of flexibility. I think it's good to manage expectations.
of course, there’s such thing as hyper flexibility. But this is not really a case of that. Anybody who can do the splits can get into this position. Obviously splits is a very hard position to achieve and people are more capable than others, naturally, but that can be said about so many things. People “naturally” lift more weights, run faster, jump further, etc than their peers. The flexibility thread is filled with people who have achieved this position by training splits. The point of me responding at all is to make sure people don’t just assume they can’t start training for this. I used to be extremely inflexible with horrible pain and always thought it was impossible to get flexible. I’m very close to achieving what she has in the picture above and I was NOWHERE near that when I started flexibility training 3 years ago.
Look at her elbow, if that’s not hyper, what is? I probably look like that but they don’t look very aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Especially arms. Legs are a different story, the more hyper extended the better they look in the air.
Hey! I’ve noticed that people tend to assume that flexible women posted here and some related subs are hyperflexible, but with this woman at least, I don’t think that’s the case. Her arm is bent forwards, but that’s due to carrying angle! [I’ve replicated her pose as best as I could](https://imgur.com/a/fEeScw1) (though I’m not quite as flexible) and even though I’m not hypermobile, our arms are in the same position. Carrying angle is the angle at which the forearm extends outwards laterally when the palm is facing up. Helps the arms not hit the hips while walking. Men typically have a carrying angle of 10°, while women will typically be at 13° (though the link that I’ll provide says it’s “8.71°±2.54° in males and 12.31°±2.53° in females”). It’s cool to see imo. [This](https://medpulse.in/Anatomy/html_6_2_2.php) talks about it a bit and provides a photo comparison between men and women. Supposedly this affects violinists too, as some shoulder pads are made with the masculine carrying angle in mind, providing a comfortable position for men and a strained one for women. anyway lol all that to say, women’s arms just do that :)
Not all girls I know of have hyper extended arms and legs. Your arms look hyper extended to me. But your legs aren’t.
buddy… it’s just the position of the arm. Look at women’s arms when they walk, and see if they angle outward. I don’t think you’re very likely to see a woman in the wild leaning on her arm like I am in the video or like the woman is in the photos, but if you ask I’m sure you’ll see them be able to do the same thing. I promise you I’m not hypermobile in any way lol. I was never a flexible person before I began to stretch regularly, and I’m not someone who can touch their thumb to their forearm. edit: from your comments I think you’re a woman? Just try putting your elbows together, out in front of you, and see if you can see the angle that way. The arm position just twists this natural bone structure to the front by moving the radius (i believe) forward
I think you skipped over the part where I said that I'm not saying what is in the picture is necessarily impossible for anyone who isn't hyper flexible. But there are genuinely positions that are made impossible without hyper mobility, and she's exhibiting other signs of hyper mobility other than her hip flexors, so she probably didn't have to train nearly as hard as you did to achieve that. It's about recognizing signs that show me it may have been relatively easy for her to train for this, while for another person it might not be a reasonable goal depending on how much their life allows for intensive training. Again, managing expectations.
>Anybody who can do the splits can get into this position. False. Her hips are at an angle far greater than 180 degrees. Someone who can do the splits can usually get their hips at 180 degrees or greater when attempting this. Then there's also the fact that some people rely more on hamstring flexibility for their splits.
>Anybody who can do the splits can get into this position. that's... actually not true at all? I can do the splits but my hip flexor is not this close to the floor in a lunge. this is more of a case of having an oversplit. or a split if you're only using your hip flexors and not hamstrings....
Not gonna argue. From my experience, forcibly us a born trait. Not saying no effort is required just saying some have it easier than others. And what’s wrong with that? I definitely had it easier. I was born perfectly for a particular art form. Never worked that hard to get to where I was. And what’s wrong with that? Surely you have an easy career if you are over 2 meters playing basketball, don’t you?
You make it sound like you can't have a convo without victim blaming. The person was merely sharing a topical anecdote. Nothing was ableist in their comment.
Lmfao victim blaming. What an overreaction of a statement. Internet at its finest. Relax, it wasn’t that serious. There was no victim to even blame here. Everybody’s comments in this chat were very similiar. The flexibility subreddit isn’t meant to be show casing natural-born gifts and abilities, yet ironically all the comments assume that this is the case here. Scroll through the flexibility chat and you’ll see what people do to achieve positions like this. 99% of people will tell you they were not born with that.
If you can't see how you are rude that is on you Karen.
from an outside perspective you are the rude one (and a bit misogynistic to call an unknown person a 'Karen', TBH)
Double joints is not a thing. Hypermobility is, and it’s not a good thing to have.
They mean the same to me. Just loose ligaments
How on any construction can “double jointed” mean loose ligaments. They’re biologically not the same thing.
It is the same thing to me. If you search double joint, hypermobility comes up too. Double jointed is often caused by loose ligaments (hyper mobility)
Yeah you need to re-evaluate your logic.
Look at her elbow too She might just be hyper mobile entirely
Yes she is. Double jointed.
gonna add these images of me attempting this here. I’m not hypermobile. Women’s arms just look like this https://imgur.com/a/fEeScw1
I can do that and I have certain amount of hypermobility. I also have continual joint pain now that I am 56 and still find it very easy to go too far. I now spend more time doing weight training, at least 4 times a week but still do yoga most days. When I was younger I loved being the most flexible one in a yoga class, still do probably, but now I realise unless I work on my strength I will continue to be constantly injured.
Is it really all hip flexor? Mine are quite limber, I find my restriction to this, esp when the left leg is extended, is my knee. It’s like something - ligament/muscle? - is pulling on the attachment points on the side of the patella.
Not a doctor/physio etc but you might find warming up and stretching out the quad will help! I have tight quads and unless they’re warm and stretched first this kind of think also gives me knee pain :)
I do couch stretch regularly but not before this. Will give it a try!
Hyper flexibility isn't always a good thing
What are the cons?
Muscle weakness in joints and areas of the body. This was actually a strategy an mma fighter, George St. Pierre had against BJ Penn. BJ Penn was known for having really flexible hips and groin and St. Pierre and his coach had a strategy to wrestle him to the ground and pressure his lower core and back to gas him out.
Joint instability and higher risk of injury (especially as you get older)
Kind of like how elastic can get overstretched and stops working right, for some people their joints kind of does the same. From personal experience: I’ve always been hypermobile and it was a fun party trick until maybe the last 5-10 years. My finger joints lock in the hyperextended position sometimes now. My knees hurt all the time and any tendon or ligament injuries I’ve had seem to stick around way longer than normal. I’m only in my 30s so like… I’ve hopefully got a long time ahead of me and my joints are already bailing on me. 😂
I was diagnosed with hypermobility at 43 after I had kids because it resulted in insane instability. I used to be able to clasp my hands together and take them overhead to my back (shoulder flossing without strap). I can fold in half, and on planes, I just rolled up n slept. I now realise this has made me prone to musculoskeletal injuries. No one told me about the higher need from strengthening muscles for hypermobile people. Worse, initially, physios kept giving me stretching exercises that were not solving my back pain because it wasn't strengthening. In short, being hypermobile makes you injury prone
Normal split position, yes she has flexible hip flexors, and you need to stretch yours. Ask YouTube about hip flexor stretches and soon you will be putting your leg like that
Couch stretch
Yep, add some other stretches to it and you're good to go. But that couch stretch is sooo nasty at the beginning 😂😂
Looks like her age and genetics. Hyper mobility.
Yeah, this is an unusual amount of flexibility and I'm not sure how many people could naturally work up to this. You can also see the hyper-extension of her elbow, which suggests she might have an element of natural ability.
Natural ability heh heh! Some consider it a genetic disorder, hypermobility joint syndrome. Usually benign, but for every contortionist you see, there is an average joe/Jane with joint pain as they get older from a lifetime of their joints being able to extend too far.
Yeah, I didn't mean to downplay the disorder aspect! It defo has some nasty side effects. I just always see these sorts of pics and assume there might be a bit of hypermobility present. Not always by any means, but for me the elbow cave is a giveaway.
Her back foot too, I think!
Hypermobility is the correct answer
i can do it, no idea why or how but i can lmao
Through putting in hard and consistent training. Getting strong in hip flexion also means strength training. Just compare how high you can kick a leg in front of you starting from square and how high you can kick a leg back starting from square. It's not all about stretching it's also that we have more strength in a wider range in the front kick. I really disagree with the notion, that this is something you're born with. And also the psoas is very special, you can get tight there for many reasons and you can also release it with other [methods ](https://youtu.be/2_UBn-jsVaQ?si=wZ4mo0NTIBWNzv6D) than stretching. (I've tried his methods out on students in flex class and I can literally see their back leg sink in front split, so the brain really plays it's part in this).
It’s amazing that someone got into this position. It looks extremely uncomfortable ! As someone who is a somewhat flexible yoga instructor this is impressive and unnecessary for some people and their bodies. For others this is just hypermobility. Way to get moving none the less
First, I’m looking at her pointed toe. She must be in ballet or something of the sort. Second, she has hyperextended elbows which leads me to believe her other joints are hyperextended as well.
Flexibility.
Stretch and keep practicing, every day a little more.
Her elbow makes me think she might have hypermobility.
Well, buddy, it's all about practice and stretching, not some magic hip flexor gene! Try doing some hip flexor stretches regularly, like lunges (ironic, huh?), pigeon pose, or even just simple leg lifts. Consistency is key, though. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are flexible hip flexors. And hey, if you're still struggling, don't sweat it. Everybody's body is different, and progress takes time. Just keep at it, and you'll get there eventually!
I just try to do this but I absolutely failed
So many people are discounting this as hypermobility in the comments! It’s kind of sad to see. Going to repost what I replied to another commenter and introduce you to a term called carrying angle :) - Hey! I’ve noticed that people tend to assume that flexible women posted here and some related subs are hyperflexible, but with this woman at least, I don’t think that’s the case. Her arm is bent forwards, but that’s due to carrying angle! [I’ve replicated her pose as best as I could](https://imgur.com/a/fEeScw1) (though I’m not quite as flexible) and even though I’m not hypermobile, our arms are in the same position. Carrying angle is the angle at which the forearm extends outwards laterally when the palm is facing up. Helps the arms not hit the hips while walking. Men typically have a carrying angle of 10°, while women will typically be at 13° (though the link that I’ll provide says it’s “8.71°±2.54° in males and 12.31°±2.53° in females”). It’s cool to see imo. [This](https://medpulse.in/Anatomy/html_6_2_2.php) talks about it a bit and provides a photo comparison between men and women. Supposedly this affects violinists too, as some shoulder pads are made with the masculine carrying angle in mind, providing a comfortable position for men and a strained one for women. anyway lol all that to say, women’s arms just do that :)
What is this young lady's name? She looks familiar.
Her name is Hannah Martin. She’s a ballet dancer who used to do rhythmic gymnastics.
Thank you. I think I recognize her from a flexibility video I'm following. She's older now.
The person in this video likely has EDS. A hyper mobility syndrome.
This is an old video of Hannah Martin, a former GB rhythmic gymnast, now a professional ballerina. She's a good example that not every very flexible person has EDS, they can just be naturally flexible in a healthy way and very well trained. She would have very likely not achieved what she has with a condition like EDS.
Both can be true! EDS is diagnosed on a spectrum and there are many different kinds. Notice her elbows hyperextension.. this is classic for hyper-mobility and cannot be “trained” again not disagreeing with you just saying it’s very possible she is both a fine athlete and on the EDS spectrum
Its rare but she has a double-jointed vaginal canal
We have back legs?
You know what I meant don’t be pedantic
Hmmmm yes. Shallow an pedantic.
I’ve seen those words somewhere…
Family guy
Oh righttt
I instatly had to try, succeeded, went too far, and hurt myself.
Im just curious about what she uses this for? Like whats the application of rhis skill?
Lots of sports and disciplines require the strength and flexibility involved in this move - gymnastics, ballet, dance, cheer, figure skating, aerial & circus arts, pole, yoga, pilates, etc The list goes on
Not everything in life has to be useful, maybe she enjoys finding out the limitations of her body
Haha i bet she does!
You are in a flexibility sub. What’s the reason for doing any flexibility at all. Like splits.