Box squat question

[Guest guest]

In my continued progress towards the seemingly impossible all-the-way-down

pistol, I've run into a small problem: I'm having trouble keeping my

elevated leg elevated enough. My legs have never been especially flexible,

but I'm not even sure that's the whole problem. Are there any simple (i.e.

preferably equipment-free) exercises or stretches I should be doing to take

care of this problem?

TIA,

-

[Guest guest]

> In my continued progress towards the seemingly impossible

> all-the-way-down

> pistol, I've run into a small problem: I'm having trouble keeping my

> elevated leg elevated enough.

How high is enough? Can you keep it off of the floor? I find that I tend

to just keep my hanging leg perfectly straight but only a foot or so off of

the floor and that I don't do the pistol in the imaginary perfect position

with the leg at 90 degrees for the whole range of the motion.

> My legs have never been

> especially flexible,

> but I'm not even sure that's the whole problem. Are there

> any simple (i.e.

> preferably equipment-free) exercises or stretches I should be

> doing to take

> care of this problem?

Pavel has a great hamstring stretch in _Relax Into Stretch_. Stand up and

do a weight free Good Morning lift. Bend at the waist with a flat back and

with your hands in front of you while pushing your butt back and keeping

your legs straight. Go slowly and find the tension point in your

hamstrings. Hold until it releases. No ballistic motion whatsoever. If

you feel the stretch pulling at the back of your knees you need to bend them

until the tension moves back up into the hamstring. You can pull a ligament

if you don't do this.

Ron