Flexibility Training - Pike Progress Assessment
I've been following the Mobility & Flexibility Toolkit by Matthew I. Smith for about four months now, and specifically training the pike for three. I want to share my progress photos and my notes. This will be shared with the toolkit members for feedback, so there will be some jargon.
For anyone unfamiliar, a pike is a forward fold. Touching your toes with your fingers is the basic and classic test. If you're dedicated, you can get your head to your toes. (I can't get that far, as you'll soon see.)
Excuse the cluttered room in advance. Also, the camera level was adjusted to the same plane for each assessment, so there shouldn't be distortion. I just got more gym matting since I started. For size reference, I'm 5'8.5" (174cm) and 210 pounds (95.25 kg).
I've completed three phases of training (kind of, see notes further below) and did an assessment before and afterward. The assessment has five parts.
Forward Fold
Before
After
Went from having my fingers hover on my toes, but not reaching the floor, to putting my knuckles on the floor. This is a "cold" measurement, but I did get some morning stiffness out before doing these. Nothing like the warmup. During practice sessions in Phase 3, I can stand on two yoga blocks and almost get my palms flat on the floor during the standing block crush.
Elbow to Knee
Before
Right
Left
After
Right
Left
Still cannot touch my elbow to shaka, but it does look like I'm getting closer from the photos.
Standing Leg Lift
Before
Right 65.31°
Left 69.85°
After
Right 78.09°
Left 77.29°
A great improvement! The pike leg lifts are definitely making my legs stronger.
Sciatic Nerve Test
Before
The camera footage I have of this test before is terrible, so I will skip it. But out of the ten levels, my left leg was 5 and my right leg was 6.
After
Right - 6
Left - 10!
My left leg has no sciatic issues. Even tested it twice to confirm. But my right has not changed. I do think I see part of the issue, though. I think when I trained the nerve flossing, I internally rotated the working leg before internally rotating the hip. This is the wrong order.
I haven't noticed nerve problems during phase 3, when this was dropped from the list, but there's still something going on in there.
Internal Hip Rotation
Before - Left: 22.47°, Right: 22.85°
After - Left: 26.59°, Right: 22.80°
The left leg improved, but the right leg didn't. The only exercise I think out of the phases that hit this was the Lying Pigeon. There could have been some form issues here. I'll need more guidance on this one, or find another exercise.
Phase Notes
I have been doing training 2x a week, but I haven't been doing the phases as long as I should have. The training guide comes with two tracking sheets per phase for a total of eight sessions, but one should be practicing a phase for at least 6-8 weeks, and still stick with the same phase until no further improvement is noted. So that's on me.
So, given that, I've only done between 1/2 to 2/3rds of what the full session of training would have been for the phases. Nevertheless, I'm going to ask for another assessment and be more strict on staying with each phase longer.
Furthermore, for the first month/phase I did, I was also training the Pancake skill. That proved to be too much for my level of recovery.
I'm going to ask for a fresh set of phases for where I am and begin again, and also add in shoulder work. And probably do more assessments. So, see you again on this topic in 6-8ish weeks.