Extreme 'flexibility'

[Guest devion101]

Hey everyone,

I have a problem - I'm too flexible. My hips are very loose, thus giving me 90 degree turnout, but also causing them to pop out of socket. My elbows hyperextend, as do my legs, severely. The 'frog stretch' is as comfortable as sitting in a poofy chair. My back can practically bend in half. My legs aren't as flexible as the rest of me, but they're close. Problem is, although all my dance teachers commend it and other students are wowed, it's becoming a real problem. My hyperextended legs cause obvious problems standing in first posistion and cause knee pain. My hips click and seem to climb over some sort of bone ridge when I do a side developpe and randomly decide to pop out when I stand and lean on one of my legs. My shoulders recently dislocated themselves and I couldn't do port de bras (my signature!) for a month . My back is constantly in pain. Every joint seems to pop at least ten times a day, causing bizarre reactions in Geometry, let me tell you

Has anyone else had this problem? Do you have any tips for coping with it? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Cheerio,

Devion

[Victoria Leigh]

Devion, it sounds to me like you need to start developing the muscle strength to properly support all that flexibility! It can be a great gift to have that, but it is not enough by itself. I would suggest some very serious Pilates work for you, and right away. In addition to that, I would suggest holding back the rotation and extention and working with much more concentration on placement and control. Your natural flexibility will NOT go away with not using all of it. It is there, and it is natural. Your job now is to develop strength. Do not allow the hyperextension to take control. It is a good thing only if YOU are in control. Learn how to do that, both from your teachers and from Pilates. Very important!

[Paul Parish]

Devion, Miss Leigh has put it in a nutshell, and she's the gold standard when it comes to authority -- Trust her, she's right!

 

But let me encourage you to stick with it. Developing the strength, and the muscle-memory does take time -- but you've doubtless already had those experiences where your alignment's perfect and you're "floating." Stick to it, and there'll be more of those.......

 

Good luck!!!

[Victoria Leigh]

Thank you, Paul, I appreciate the vote of support, , but I do have to remind you that this is the YD forum. Actually, I have "been there, done that" with this problem. I had the same thing as a teen, extreme flexibility and a total lack of strength in terms of placement and muscle development. I was strong, but not correctly strong, if that makes any sense.

[Guest JRSDANCER87]

Hi :-) There is a girl at my studio in my level who has that same body that you describe. She is double jointed everywhere and can turn out 180 degrees, no stretches hurt her, and she just looks like a big pretzel! She has *a lot* of back problems. SHe has had to stay home every summer for our own school's summer intensive beause her back is in such bad shape that she can't do anything with it. She's doing better now, it sort of comes and goes. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with being extremely flexible, however, her physical therapist always tells her to stretch out the other way (meaning to curl her back forward instead of stretching it the way one would in arabesque)...and that does seem to make it better. That seems to work for her, hope you feel better. Good luck :-)

[Victoria Leigh]

There is no such thing as "double jointed". There is only one joint there, it is just severly hyperextended and overly flexible