Hips & Hamstrings for BJJ: 60-Min Foundational Flexibility Flow

Option to stay here or reach the hands through the thighs, interlocking the fingers behind the left leg. Figure four stretch. It is not that one variation is better than the other. It's simply that they are different.

So once you found your posture, come back to the deep breaths. Inhale to find the tension. Exhale, release. And your next inhale.

Be aware of where you feel tight in the entire body. Exhale to release through the entire body. Last deep breath. And keeping the legs exactly where they are, release the hands slowly lowering the entire body, rolling over towards the left side until the foot touches the ground.

So you're in a figure four spinal twist. An option for the left hand to hold the ankle or not. Up to you. Right hand reaches out to the right side in a T position.

And once you found this, come back to your deep breath. Last breath. Use the inhale to slowly come to center, placing both feet on the floor to recenter the spine. And take a moment.

Noticing the difference from the left side and right side. Giving the spine a second to neutralize. Gathering both knees into the chest, gently rock side to side. Lowering the right foot onto the ground knee bend, interlocking the fingers underneath the knee cap on the shin, pulling the left knee towards the left armpit.

And you have the option to stay still or gently move that knee around. Whatever feels better. Sometimes staying still feels better and sometimes some movement feels better. Releasing the left ankle onto the right quad, making sure it's closer to the ankle quad, not the shin, closer to the ankle, not the shin.

With the left hand pushing off the left knee. And if this is enough for you, stay here or reach the hands through the thighs, interlocking the fingers behind the right leg. Figure four stretch. Coming back to the deep breaths.

Inhale where you find the tension. Exhale to release. And keeping the legs exactly where they are. Release the hands and slowly lower the body towards the right side until the right foot touches the ground.

Sorry, the left foot touches the ground. The right foot's on the floor the whole time actually. Option for the right hand to hold the ankle if that's comfortable or you might not want to hold it. Both are right.

And the left arm reaches towards the left side in a T position. So figure four stretch with a spinal twist. Once you've found your variation, close the eyes, come back to the deep breaths. Inhale, find where it feels tight and exhale to consciously release that tension.

Next inhale, being aware of where there may be tension in any part of the body. Exhale to release entirely. Take a few more breaths. So last deep breath.

Use your inhale to slowly come to center both feet on the floor. Re-center the spine. Take a moment for that spine to neutralize. Moving into bridge pose variation, place both feet into the floor to lift the hips towards the ceiling.

And once the hips are as high as they will go, reach the hands towards the ceiling, then to the wall behind you. And once the hips are as high as they will go, reach the hands towards the ceiling, then to the wall behind you. And from here, stretch from the knees all the way to the tips of the fingertips. Deep inhale, exhale to slowly lower the hips.

As you're doing this, bring the hands down to the sides, beside your hips. Inhale, lift the hips, arms behind you. Exhale, lower the hips down, hands to the sides. A few more of these at your own pace, at your own time.

Ah And no rush whenever you're ready. the hips to the ground, hands to the sides. Holding behind the legs, tuck the chin to round the back, rock and roll two, three, four, five, six times, bringing some blood flow into the spine, some movement into the spine. Eventually, meet me on your hands and knees for tabletop.

From the tabletop, moving into your cat cow, arch the spine towards the ground and use the entire spine, lower back, middle back, upper back and round the spine towards the ceiling, lower back, middle back, upper back. Between these two postures, cat cow, and being really aware of what it feels like, knowing that when you round the spine to the ceiling, this is your cat towards the ground. This is your cow. Remembering what the cow feels like and what the cat feels like because we will be using this concept throughout class.

Rounding to the ceiling as cow is cat, rounding to the ceiling as cat, arching to the ground as cow. Exhale, release. Breath. Moving through will be our back bend of the class.

Come to tabletop on the hands and knees, shift the weight forward so your belly comes to the ground, entire body is on the ground. Lift the legs first, lift the hands off the ground, pull the shoulder blades towards the spine and down. This is called floating cobra strengthening through the entire spine. Release everything to the ground, hands on the floor.

You want the hands as far back, our goal is to get a 90 degree angle with the arms. Get the hands as far back as you can. Obviously, flexibility of the form plays a factor in that. Eventually, you will have that perfect 90 degree angle with the arms.

Engaging through the lower body, use the hands and the arms as a frame to pull your torso up and forward, making the spine long, traction of the spine, making it long. And release. Hips to heels, child's pose for a reset. You can either stay static or shift left and right.

Always an option to add that movement if you want. Again, tabletop, belly to the ground, lift floating cobra, shoulder blades towards the spine and down. Release. Set the hands, lift for cobra, release, child's pose.

Again, adding the breathing. Inhale, tabletop, exhale, lower. Inhale, floating cobra, exhale to squeeze, release. Inhale, cobra, exhale, release, child's pose.

One more of those. Inhale, tabletop, exhale to lower. Inhale, floating cobra, exhale to squeeze, release. Inhale, cobra, exhale lower, child's pose.

So throughout class, when I say vinyasa, that's the flow that I want, strengthening through the back body, incredibly important for spinal health, and taking your time through each of those repetitions. Coming to tabletop, hands and knees, tuck the toes, lift the hips for your dog. Keeping the legs bent in your dog. Bend one leg, bend the other leg, walking the dog out, allow the hips to move, shake the head, lots of movement into this dog.

You always want emphasis on a long spine. Knees bent, knees don't have to be straight. I want the spine long here. Again, that traction of the spine.

And slowly stepping one foot in front of the other until the feet meet the hands for a forward fold. In the forward fold, legs are bent. Legs are bent, shift the weight into the ball of the feet a little more, allowing gravity to pull the spine long again. You might feel it through the hamstrings, maybe through the lower back.

And again, you have the option for the hands to be on the ground in front of you. And legs should be bent. Legs should be bent here. Allow the head to hang, weight in the ball of the feet, spine long, allow the head to hang.

You can stay static or shift left and right. Whatever feels good. From here, posting the hands onto the ground, heel to the feet further than the hips to lower the hips between the legs for your deep squat. And in the deep squat, palms together, using the elbows to push the knees out, maybe even making the spine long.

If you can't do this, that's okay. You can just have your hands on the ground if that's where you're at. If your heels aren't on the ground, that's okay. You can try wiggling them out a bit more.

And our goal is for you to feel the stretch through the inner thighs. And if this is really intense, it's good that you're doing it. So pushing elbows out, spine long. Hands to the ground, lift the hips, forward fold.

And moving between these two postures at your own pace, at your own time, between the forward fold and the deep squat. And if you find you need a bit more time in either of them, go ahead and take that. So it's whatever you need today. Meet me in a forward fold, hips up.

And slowly, vertebrae by vertebrae come to a stand, taking your time envisioning each vertebrae. And when you're at the top, hands on the hips, feet underneath the hips where they're supposed to be. Hip circles, three, four, five, hip circles one way to rinse that out. And the other way.

Coming to center, stepping to the front of your mat. Inhale arms up. Make the spine long. Exhale forward fold.

Bend the knees. Inhale to half lift. Hands can be on the knees or shins. Make the top of the head long towards the front of the room.

Forward fold. Stepping the right foot back, right knee down. Lift for your low lunge. So in the low lunge, push the foot into the ground.

Knee and hip are aligned. And from here, remember that the cat motion with the lower spine, but keep the upper spine. Keep it up. That's your low lunge with a nice stretch through the front of the hip.

Inhale arms up. Make the spine long. Exhale, plant the hands to find your plank and I'll cue you through this vinyasa. Inhale plank.

Exhale to the ground. Inhale. Floating cobra. Exhale to squeeze.

Release. Find the placement of the hands. Inhale to cobra. Exhale, release.

And staying on the knees, find your way to tabletop. Tuck the toes. Lift the hips for dog. Stepping the right foot between the hands, back knee down, low lunge.

Pushing the back foot into the ground. The hip is above the knee. From here, creating the cat motion with the spine, but only the lower spine, that rounding. And torso up.

Find the posture and breathe. And from here, inhale arms up. Exhale, plant the hands to step both feet forward. Inhale, half lift.

Exhale, forward fold. Bend the knees to inhale all the way up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale to half lift.

Exhale, plant the hands, step the left foot down, low lunge. Going through your checklist. Foot, hip, your cat towards the ceiling. When you had that spine rounded towards the ceiling.

Upper body up. And this time, lift the arms, pointing the pinkies towards each other a bit more. Inhale to lift. Exhale, plank.

Inhale, strong plank. Exhale, lower down. Inhale, floating cobra. Exhale, squeeze.

Release. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, release. Tabletop first.

Knees under the hips. Reset that. And tuck the toes. Lift the hips for your dog.

Take a second in your dog if you need it. And step the left foot between the hands, low lunge. Going through your checklist. Foot, knee and hip.

Cat stretch. Once you've found all of that, reach the arms up, turning the pinkies towards each other, engaging perhaps a slight stretch through the lats. You might feel it. You might not.

But it's an option. Inhale, lift. Exhale, plant the hands to step both feet forward. Inhale, half lift.

Exhale, forward fold. Bend the knees. Inhaling all the way up, feeling the lungs entirely full. Exhale, forward fold.

Inhale, half lift. And exhale, plant the hands. Step the right foot back, right knee down. This time with the left foot.

Wiggle the left foot to the outside of the hands for lizard lunge. The left foot will probably even be off the mat. Toes can be pointed out about on the 45 degree angle. So find a comfortable position for that.

Then tuck the back toes to lift the back knee. And from here, engaging through the back quad. Option to stay on the hands or you can go down onto the elbows. If you're on your elbows, come onto the hands.

And you have options here. So back knee down, walk the hands towards the hips to straighten or almost straighten that front leg. If you feel the stretch, the back of the leg, you're doing it right. So either option for that or if you have two blocks, this can be really nice too.

The left leg in between the hands. Holding the blocks to make that spine long. And you might even need four blocks and that's okay. To make the spine long.

And from here, create the cow motion. The cow motion is when we rounded the spine towards the ground. And if you're not here, that's okay. This is a video that's progressive, it's foundational flow.

So you can do this video again and again and again and again. And eventually you'll find yourself here. I am using the blocks a lot. They're just to make your hands longer.

An extension of the hands to make them longer. So whichever variation you're in, if you feel a stretch, the back of the leg, you're doing it right. That's what we're going for. Doesn't matter what the posture looks like.

All that matters is how it feels. Slowly walk the hands forward. Slowly walk the hands forward to bend the front knee. If you have the blocks, they go to the side.

Find your way to plank. So inhale, strong plank. Exhale, move through your vinyasa at your own pace, at your own time. Everybody meeting in dog.

Stepping the right foot to the outside of the right hand. Back knee is lifted, strengthen through the back knee. Flex through the back quad. Lowering the back knee, walk the hands towards the hips to straighten or almost straighten that front leg.

And remember, you have a few different variations here. So you can either keep that right leg to the outside of the hands. That's great. You can walk the foot to the inside of the hands.

That's also great. And if you have blocks, if you've decided to use those blocks under the shoulders to create a frame and from here make that spine long, and the cow motion with the lower spine. So when we were arching the spine towards the ground and breathe. And not going to 100% intensity, go to like 70%.

The results will be like this. So you can go to the side, you can go to the side, you can go to the side, you can go to the side. And not going to 100% intensity, go to like 70%. The results will come with repetition, not intensity.

So go to about 70%. And don't be worried if this feels tight. That's why we're stretching it. We'll hit these hamstrings a few different ways today, a few different times.

Gently bend the front knee, walk the hands forward. And plant the hands to step both feet to the front of the mat. Inhale, half lift. Exhale, bend the knees, refold.

Inhale, deep breath in, fill the lungs up. Inhale, lift the hands up. Inhale, lift the hands up. Inhale, lift the hands up.

Inhale, lift the hands up. Deep breath in, fill the lungs up. Exhale, refold. Inhale, half lift.

And exhale to step the left foot back with the right foot. Wiggle the right foot to the outside of the hands, finding your lizard lunge. So take a second, find your lizard lunge. The foot will probably be off the mat, and that's okay.

The good frame through the arms, strengthening through the back legs. And again, you have the option at each time we're in the lizard lunge to either stay on the hands if that's enough for you, or you can even lower down to the elbows if you'd like more of an intense stretch. It's not that one is better than the other, it's just that they're different. And the stretches, you'll be doing different stretches on different days, depending on how you feel, how your training's going, what's going on in your life.

So don't expect any yoga session to ever be the exact same. And lowering the back knee, find your variation of the hamstring stretch, whichever one you'd like. So from here, gently bend that front knee, walk the hands forward, find your way to plank. Inhale, strong plank.

Exhale, lower down, move through your vinyasa. And everybody meeting in dog. And you can always visit child's pose for a moment before you go into dog. If you find that you're working through strengthening of the back, and those back bends can be kind of intense, go in child's pose for just a beat to rinse that out.

Step in the left foot to the outside of the left hand, strengthening through the back wide. And from here, always option to stay on the hands or down to the elbows. Staying within that 70%, never going to 100. Remember, it doesn't matter what the posture looks like.

All that matters is how it feels. And if you feel a stretch, you're doing it good. You're doing it good. Doing it well.

A yoga instructor, not an English instructor, doing it well. Coming back to the hands, if you were on your elbows, lowering the back knee, walk the hands back to straighten or almost straighten that front leg. And finding the hamstring variation that works for you. And gently bending that left knee to walk the hands forward.

From here, plant the hands to step both feet to the front of the mat. Wiggle the feet so they're under the hips. Inhale, half lift. Exhale, refold.

Bend the knees to inhale all the way up. This time to stay. The hands can either be in front of the heart or beside you. Eyes open or close, whatever you like.

And take a pocket of pause. Take just a minute to recognize how you feel so far. And this noticing, it's really important. So you can recognize the work that's being done.

Allow the body a minute to process it. Okay, opening the eyes if they were closed. Inhale, arms up. Exhale, forward fold.

Inhale to half lift. And on the exhale, step the right foot back, high lunge or crescent lunge. So from the crescent lunge, hands on the hips. The back foot, see if you wiggle that back foot back a bit more.

So you're basically on the ball of the foot or more towards the toes. Front knee is bent enough so you can see your second and third toe. And with the spine, creating that slight rounding motion, that slight cat motion with the only the lower spine, but the upper spine stays up. Take a second.

Not going too intense. If it's too intense, you can shift the weight back a little to release. And from here, step the right foot forward until it's flat on the ground. Straighten the front leg, lower the torso down towards the ground.

And you either have the option to keep the hands on the hips for that hamstring stretch, or if you have blocks, it's really nice to place the front block, my right hand, my right block in line with the front leg. And the left block can also be in line with the front leg, or you can back it up so it's between the legs. So if you have blocks, they can be really nice to put the weight on. But if you don't, then you can either keep the hands on the hips, or you can put the hands on the shin.

And if you can reach the ground, then that's great. And that's great too. And finding a place where you can stay within that 70% intensity. And from here, if you have blocks, put them to the side, bend the front knee, find your way to plank.

Inhale, strong plank. Exhale, lower to the ground. Down. Vinyasa.

Taking your time. This is an incredibly important part of class for spinal health. Everybody meeting in dog, and when you're in dog, if you feel you'd like some movement through that dog, great ahead. Bend one leg, bend the other leg, move the hips, maybe shake any tension out of the neck and head.

And from here, stepping the right foot behind the right hand, right foot behind the right hand, lifting the torso for your high lunge or crescent lunge. And going through your checklist with the back leg, see if you can go onto the ball of the feet or towards the toes, basically so the heel is over the toes. Looking at your second and third toe over your front knee. And if you find that this is too intense, you can shift the weight back a little.

And creating that rounding motion with the lower spine, that cat motion, the lower spine, while the upper spine stays up. This can be quite an intense stretch, because those hip flexors tend to get really tight. The type of lifestyle is really with training, sitting. So it's important to balance that out with exactly what we're doing.

And from here, step the left forward foot enough so that it's flat on the ground. Hands on the hips and lower the torso forward until you feel a stretch in the front leg. Forward until you feel a stretch in the front leg. Either the option to stay here, hands can be on the shin, or if you have blocks, you can line both blocks up with that front foot.

With the right hand, you can place the block basically between the legs, the distance of being between the legs. So find your variation and find your stretch. If this is quite intense, that's okay. We will be going through this series again, from the high lunge to the pyramid.

Deep breath in as deep as you can. Inhale and exhale to release. Gently bend the front knee. If you have your blocks, put them to the side.

Step both feet. Plant the hands to step both feet to the front of the mat. Inhale, half lift, spine long. Exhale, forward fold.

Bend the knees to inhale all the way up. Deep breath. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale to half lift.

Exhale, plant the hands. Step the left foot back and lift for your high lunge. Go through your checklist. Find that back foot.

Find the front knee. Create the arching motion with the rounding motion with the lower spine, your cat. Less detail second time around. Inhale.

From here, step the back foot forward until it's flat on the ground, straight in the front leg. Make the spine long and reach it forward then towards the ground, hamstring stretch. Find your variation that you like. Inhale.

Staying within that 70% intensity. I keep reminding that because it's important. We always tend to want to go to 100%, but nope, 70% is good. Gently bending the front knee.

Find your way to plank. Inhale, strong plank. Exhale, lower to the ground and your vinyasa. Everybody meeting in dog.

Stepping the left foot behind the left hand. Rise to your high lunge. Finding that back foot. Goals to be basic in the ball of the back foot so the heel can move forward above the toes.

See the second and third toe with the front over the front knee. Create that rounding action with the lower spine, your cat motion, and of course, upper spine stays. And from here, step the right foot forward enough so it's on the ground. Inhale to make the spine long and shift the torso forward and down until you feel the stretch through the front hamstring and find your variation of pyramid pose.

Inhale to half lift. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale to stand all the way up. Deep inhale, feel the lungs all the way up.

Exhale, forward fold. This time to stay in the forward fold. Just noticing the difference of now to the beginning of class. The weight in the hands, heel toe to the feet further than the hips, lowering the hips for deep squat.

Using the elbows to push the knees out. And again, moving through this flow. So hands on the ground, lift the hips, forward fold, and reverse. Hips between the heels, deep squat.

And again, just noticing the difference between now and the beginning of class and how amazing it is what just an hour can do. So meeting me in the deep squat, no rush, and from here, finding your way onto your back. We have a bit more work to do on the back. Preparing for bridge pose, post the feet onto the floor, really strong to lift the hips to the ceiling.

And from here, elbows beside the ribs, fingers pointing up. So we have created a frame with the arms to lift the chest. And you have two options here. Option to stay here if this is enough for you.

Or the option to plant firmly through the right leg to lift the left leg to the ceiling. And the only thing that moves is the left leg. So left leg stays extended and lowers almost to the ground and then lifts back up. So that's one.

Two. And three. Pulse both feet down. Reset your bridge.

Reset your chest. Everything lifts high. Posting through the left leg to lift the right leg to the ceiling. Inhale, lift.

Exhale, lower. Inhale to lift. Exhale, lower. Inhale to lift.

Exhale, lower. Plant the feet and release. If that's hard, it's because we need it. So moving through this, we have two more sets.

So posting the feet into the ground, lift the hips for your bridge. Find the frame with your arms. Strengthen through that right leg to extend the left leg to the ceiling. Inhale, lift.

Exhale, lower. Inhale, lift. Exhale, lower. Inhale to lift.

Exhale, lower. Plant both feet. Reset the hips. Reset the hips.

Reset the chest. Strong through the left leg. Inhale to lift the right to the ceiling. Exhale, lower.

Inhale, lift. Exhale, lower. Last one. Inhale, lift.

Exhale, lower. Plant both feet and release. Okay, last one. Our grand finale.

Here we go. Planting both through both feet. Create your bridge. Create your frame with your arms.

Strengthen through the right leg. Extend the left leg to the ceiling. Inhale, lift. Exhale, lower.

Inhale, lift. Exhale, lower. Inhale, lift. Exhale, lower.

Plant both feet. Reset your bridge. Reset the hips. Reset the chest.

Strong through the left leg. Inhale to lift the right. Exhale, lower. Inhale, lift.

Exhale, lower. Inhale, lift. Exhale, lift. Exhale, lower.

Plant both feet. Lower the hips and release. If you did all three of those sets, amazing work. So pull both knees into the chest.

Gently rock side to side. And from here, knees above the hips and lower both knees to the right side. So the right hand can be on top of the legs. That can be nice.

And the left arm reaches out to the left side in a T position. And you can keep the left arm straight or cactus, whatever feels better. Once you've found this, come back to your deep breaths. Last deep breath.

Slowly come to center. Feet on the ground. Re-center the spine. Take a moment.

Allow the spine to neutralize. Pulling both knees into the chest. Gently rock side to side. And when you're ready, lowering both knees down to the left side.

Left hand can be on top of the legs. Right arm to the right side in a straight arm T position. Or you can create a cactus arm if you like. Both are right.

That's whatever feels good. From here, close eyes. Find your deep breaths. Last deep breath.

Use the inhale to slowly come to center. Feet on the floor. Re-center the spine. And from here, take any last posture that feels good.

So you can either bring the knees into the chest, rock side to side. You can do happy baby. Or you can place the feet together, the bottom of the feet together with the knees out. So whatever variation, whatever posture feels good for you to finish with, take a moment and do that.

Eventually settling into your Shavasana. So arms extended out, legs straight. Or if there's any resistance to the lower back, feet can be on the floor with the knees resting together. Whichever feels good.

Spending one minute in this Shavasana. Knowing that this posture is just as important as all other postures in class. This is what allows the body to integrate and process all of the work that we just did. So moving out of the thinking process.

So this is what allows the body to integrate and process all of the work that we just did. So moving out of the thinking mind and into the feeling body. So if you have more time to stay here, I really encourage you to, or if you're working within that one hour time frame, gently wiggle the hands and the feet, the elbows, and roll to your favorite side to push yourself into a sit, come into a sit cross-legged or on your knees, wherever is comfortable. There we are.

Thank you for joining me today, everybody, and I will see you next time.