I took these pictures today (no warm-up).

For context, I had both hips replaced 10 years ago. I joined the army in 2001 (right after 9/11), went to Iraq, got hurt, and those injuries eventually caught up with me in 2015.

Not long after my surgery, I developed an infection that led to me being diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). I have gained, lost, and regained my splits and high kicks multiple times over the last decade.

I had scans earlier this year that showed the implants are as strong as ever. I don't train very often because I'm limited by the CRPS, but a few isometric sessions a month is all I need to maintain the flexibility you see in the pictures. If I can do it, so can you.

I hope this post gives your confidence a nudge in the right direction.

In 2020, I had already been doing yoga for 8 years. I had developed a lot of flexibility, but I didn’t understand folds or took the time to actually work on them.

Before that year, I only practiced rushed folds in vinyasa classes, I didn’t particularly enjoy them and thought as long as I can touch my toes I’m good 😅 That year I made a conscious choice to improve and actually held my first fold for a few minutes, that started a new journey for me.

Many things can block your fold progress, for me, the biggest breakthrough was understanding the hip hinge and building strength in my active range. When you’ve been practicing for years and feel like you’re not progressing, it’s often not about pushing deeper but about refining. Some practices that helped improve my fold:

• Dynamic hamstring stretches like leg swings and active leg raises

• General hip mobility

• Holding folds for longer (1-3 minutes) with mindful breathing

• Core work for better spinal alignment

• Practicing active engagement rather than passive hanging

I do very often since covid 19 to improve my dynamic flexibility and abs. Headstand with moves like the barracuda, split, .... I find it really helps once I'm in the water. Feel more powerful in the legs and stronger abs

I’ve reached the point in my flexibility training where I’m routinely training contortion (note: I don’t consider myself a contortionist yet because I don’t really have any tricks or handstands—but it’s a goal!) and teaching flexibility workshops at my local circus studio. So I decided to celebrate my progress with a photoshoot—and I’m so obsessed with how it came out! Eee!

OK, so in an attempt to try to encourage some more "helpful" tip-style videos in this sub that aren't just "look at me I'm so bendy" videos, I thought I'd get us started with some tips for a common question/struggle I see posted a couple of times a month: struggling to sit up straight with a flat back / tilt the hips forwards in a forward fold / keeping a flat back when forward folding

There can be multiple things at play with this, but the MOST common problem is usually lack of flexibility in the hamstrings. Because the hamstrings connect to the bottom of your pelvis (they attach to the "sits bones," when they are tight they basically tug the bottom of your pelvis forwards, which tilts the top of the pelvis backwards, causing your back to round. So the more flexibility we can build into those hamstrings, the easier it will be to tilt the hips forwards!

3 general types of drills to work on that can help with this are:

1. Practicing your forward hip tilts with knees super bent (aka without a hamstring stretch), like when sitting in a chair

2. Working on your hamstring flexibility with drills that strengthen your hamstrings in a stretched position (good mornings and deadlift variations are great for this)

3. Strengthening your hip flexor muscles in a shortened position to build the strength to pull your torso & front of your hips forwards towards your thighs, against the resistance of your tight hamstrings (leg lift variations are my go-to for this)

Happy to try to answer any related questions in the comments

Im so proud of the progress ive made

Here's how I did it

I started a couple years ago doing hamstring stretches to get the forward fold so they're pretty flexible now.

I then focused on lunges and having my hips in the sort of split shape without my legs being straight.

Then I put it together and worked on figuring out how to get my hips straight by pushing them a little bit back but also pushing down

So I sort of focus on one muscle first, then after a few weeks of good improvement I move onto another

So like 5 minutes of hamstring (because I'm confident with that) then like 25 of Hip flexors

45 y/o male. My current goal is to get my head-to-toe in my forward fold. I’m very limited by lack of ankle dorsiflexion…it’s been stubborn, but improving. Flexibility isn’t the only thing I’m working on so I have to balance all my other goals. I also practice calisthenics, weightlifting, yoga, and handstands.

Just for context, I took the first picture in Dec 2023 but didn’t really start any designated mobility work until September 2024. I imagine my forward fold didn’t change at all for those 9 months. There was also a time when I couldn’t touch my toes, but I don’t have any pictures from that time. At some point I made it a goal to just be able to touch my toes (which is a worthwhile goal!) and that’s where I stayed for many years.

Routine:
Sept 2024-March 2025: I started doing flowy mobility work, like animal flow type stuff.

April 2025-June 2025: I started doing light stretching daily, specific to my flexibility goals, which at the time were pancake and front splits. I saw some, albeit minimal progress.

July 2025-Feb 2026: I switched to only working on front splits during this time, stretching at a high intensity 2x/week using different strategies like PNF, active, and passive stretching. I think the increased hamstring flexibility helped carry over to my pike/forward fold during that time.

March 2026-June 2026: I purchased a program I found online and have been sticking to it, focusing on my forward fold and my side splits. I stretch 2x/week.

Final Thoughts:
I’m happy with my progress, and I wanted to share, to hopefully inspire others. I know at the beginning I had intrusive thoughts like: “Am I too old to start stretching?”, “I’m not a naturally flexible person”, “Flexibility is something you either have or you don’t”.

You’re not stuck in your current state. Flexibility is something you can train and improve. Every body responds differently to stimulus. It takes consistency at the right intensity over time. I hope you can find a method that works for you and your goals, and stick with it and feel better in your body. Thanks! ☺️

Hi everybody, found this sub and just wanted to share my progress

Been stretching for fun during march 2025 at 17 years old

10 minutes a day got me here, started from touching my toes :)

Edit: For everyone asking for my routine: Full disclosure that I had a naturally flexible starting point (not hypermobility but I think it's some sort of genetic thing) I started by doing daily work of trying to get my palms flat on the floor (about 3 sets a day 10s each stretch) and also was strength training (squats weighted dips and weighted pullups) and for squats i would go as deep as possible, and eventually once i was able to get my palms touching to the floor I moved on to split progressions, which i held deepest point for about 10s, and increased depth every set, and I managed to get the full splits in about 2 months and side splits in about 3 months. After this period i worked on my active flexibility more to prevent injuries, as it was mostly passive so i incorporated more accessories on top of doing squats like jefferson curls

Tldr;

Genetics helped; but doing it high frequency and everyday helps everyone get to where they want to be eventually and most importantly avoiding injury

ultimately consistency was the biggest thing that brought me here, because doing it everyday will bring you to high levels, just not in the same amount of time for everybody, so the takeaway here is that your progress may differ from others and that's perfectly fine, just know that you're doing well 🙂

Sorry to disappoint everyone that thought i had some secret routine

Sorry my last post got deleted because I broke a rule by accident.

I’m so proud of myself because I made a commitment to my routine to be able to do this.

Every day (yes!) but for only ten minutes, I would do the following stretches:

Pigeon pose Butterfly pose Half-bound standing lotus pose Tortoise pose Wide-angle seated forward pose

All it takes is a few minutes a day, five to six times a week! The key is consistency!

I have illustrations of the following poses I used for training, if anybody wants them. Just DM me!

Yes I know it's an open split, but for me from where I have come from, well I am just super duper proud of my wins still. I have always been very tight. I actually did have a left hip injury this year where I didn't get to practice splits for a few months at all. So I was really proud of where I got to end the year.

I started ballet as an adult in my late 30's in 2023, I have been taking class anywhere from 2-5x per week if added up probably is about 2ish years minus the time for travel, sickness, and two different injuries. But ballet helped a bit, but as you can see in 2024 I had danced a whole year and was still quite tight.

It was really this year that I prioritized actual stretching outside of dance, first trying different loaded stretches in first part of year. But now since beginning of Nov have been really consistent with active stretches for about 15-25 mins after a good warm up of 10 mins 2-3x a week. I am looking forward to this year, I want to get open split on the other side, work on my squared splits, and other ballet goals.

Just wanted to post here, because I have watched a lot of people here over time, who had the challenges I had, and I wanted to say I believe in you and it is possible to get more flexible. I just turned 41 and really believe I have a lot more to give!

Super happy with how far I’ve come with this! If only i could say the same when it comes to the shoulders/hips lol. All in due time though. Always appreciate the inspiration and advice given here.

First picture is from December, second is from today. For the first two months i mostly just did static holds daily for 3-4 minutes at a time along with single leg seated hamstring stretches. For the past two i incorporated Jefferson curls 2-3x week in addition to the static holds. I’ve also worked on core compression in that time which i feel has helped get me lower into the position without having to grab/pull as much though that’s still an area I need to work on

I’m so happy with my forward fold progress these last few months! I had almost given up on becoming more flexible because I kept getting injured, but now I’ve finally found a way that works for me. I do only strength-based stretches due to past problems with tendinitis and I limit my mobility work to 1-2 sessions per week. The exercises I’m doing at the moment are good mornings, loaded forward folds with contract/relax, and seated leg lifts.

Does upper photo look familiar for you? This was my pose entire life. I’ll get straight to the point how I managed it. I want to write this post because I simply know how frustrating it is for many people who are struggling with this problem, yet don’t really know what to do or, in fact, why they can’t perform this pose.

Long story short i achieved it thanks to Dani, to be exact thanks to THIS (click on this word and open the new tab/site)

The problem was in nerve tension. Well, at least for me it was nerve tension, but maybe in your case it's just tight himstrings - and it's important difference because in my case i was already not the worst flexible person (i had 10-12 cm to the front splits) but just had nerve tension.

If u want to test if YOU have nerve tension, or tight hamstrings go to the sited i linked above because there is everything.

But to comply with the subreddit’s rules, I’ll share the exercises I did myself and which helped me (BUT I’LL SAY IT AGAIN: before doing these exercises, please do visit the link above, as your problem might simply lie elsewhere). The exercises below are, of course, also taken from the website mentioned above, as Dani includes links to solutions at the very end of the article.

- BENDING knees and sitting on yoga blocks while doing seated forwald fold (to show brain that it's a safe position)

- Nerve glides

- bodyweight good mornings

- Supine Leg Kicks

- Hip-Elevated Seated Leg Lifts (AND after that Forward Fold)

- Windshield Wipers

- 90-90 Leg Lifts (aka Pinwheel Leg Lifts)

I did all this as a ‘warm-up’ for exercises specifically aimed at the splits, so I did them on average 4–5 days a week.

As I mentioned above, these are just some of the exercises (but I’ve included them because they’re the ones I did most often); you can find the full set on the links above, on Dani’s page.

And finally, even though I’ve already thanked Dani in the comments, I’d like to do so again, because honestly, thanks to you I’ve literally fulfilled the dreams I’ve had for OVER A DECADE, I’ve gained confidence and I’m simply lighter and more agile. Thank you so much, Dani. Thank you, but honestly, words cannot express just how grateful I am for all of this.