Progress has been made in week 2 of the 100 day contortion challenge. Every training session I have been making gains, it is exciting to say the least!
With set goals, a consistent stretching routine, and a schedule, I have been able to make progress more easily! And it’s not just me, The Flexibility Challenge community is making so much progress! It warms my heart to see, I am so proud of them!
What has helped me the most is focusing intently on breathing deeply, contracting all of my muscles on the inhale, relaxing on the exhale in the different poses, and correcting my form. Gaining strength and flexibility at the same time has been intense, but actually one of the best workouts I have ever done. I would have never thought stretching for 1-2 hours would increase my strength, but it has. This is particularly due to the consistent warmup and dynamic stretching routine.
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Day by Day Progress
Here is a day by day breakdown of week 2 in The 100 Day Contortion Challenge.
Day 8 | Rest, Recovery & Food
Week 1 was really strenuous, so I decided to get extra rest and only do full range of motion moves when needed; such as full arm circles, lifting arms straight up above head, palms down, bringing arms forward and backwards, and so on. Since I work at a desk most of the day, rest is easy. I still have to use my full range of motion every 30 minutes or so to keep loose.
I ate a ton of good food, because food is fuel and I only use premium.
I drank warrior greens by health force mixed with water, herbal tea, and nettles infusion for breakfast. I had my Vegan Burritos with Raw Vegan Taco Meat for lunch and a grain and roasted veggie dish doused in spices and herbs for dinner.
Food For The Week
The entire week I consumed many different herbs, barks, berries, roots, etc., along with fresh produce; especially greens, from the farmers. I also drank about 8 gallons of reverse osmosis water. I also mix in a lot of grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
This diet is perfect for my digestion type. If your body is too busy digesting processed foods or poor food combinations, you’ll have no energy left for your body to repair the muscles. Not to mention that many foods are empty calories, meaning they lack nutrients and vitamins, thus starving your muscles of the fuel they need to repair. When I ate poorly in my younger days it was harder for me to recover and I would end up being injured.
Day 9 | 2 hour | Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches ->Static Stretches -> Upper and Lower Body Poses
It was a rainy day and I had woken up feeling fresh. I was ready for action, so I did my warmup and ran through the dynamic stretches for lower body and some for upper body as well. I then started using all the furniture in the house for leverage. The doorway is one of my favorites!
This was my first time even being able to put my leg and chest in the door jam at the same time. Now I just have to get my shoulders on board and reaching back towards my leg. I also need to straighten the back leg in a pretty big overspilt. This is all working towards needle and rainbow marchenko for pole.
Day 10 | 1 hour | Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches ->Light Static Stretches
I didn’t get any really good photos this day. I was practicing on the couch doing chest stands and other random things. I’ll post more about hoe amazing a couch can be for contortion stretching later on.
Day 11 | 2 hours | Warmup -> Static Stretches ->Contortion Stretches
Another rainy day but still feeling good, I again used the house for practice.
Using the molding in an opening is a great way to stretch your shoulders. I go as slowly as possible, focusing on squeezing my back muscles to hold farther positions. I then try to relax these muscles in this position.
The goal is bring the armpits down towards the ground while you bring your upper body up and back. I also imagine each vertebrae tucking underneath each other ever so gently with each breath working my way up the spine.
Day 12 | 2 hours | Nature Run -> Tree Dancing
Every weekend I try to get out to the nearest nature paths. This one in particular is around a small lake in southern Maryland. There are so many vines to play on! I happened to find my favorite kind of vine that loops back up and around and mimics a cross between lyra and trapeze. It is very tough to balance since the “rigging” is different tree branches and so it is very unstable. That just adds to the excitement,
We ran a lot of the way and then landing in this beautiful spot, where chico dog got to rest and I got to play on the vines. And thankfully Dominick is willing to film!
I love the concept of fear and beauty together.
Day 13 | 2 hours | Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches ->Contortion Poses
Day 13 was an incredibly hot day, but it made it so much easier to get into a full middle split. I have about an inch or so to go before I am completely flat, but I have faith I will get it by the end of the challenge!
I also worked on getting my feet to my head, using all of my back and leg muscles. I am less than an inch away, it’s just hard for me to relax in that position. The more I focus and the deeper I breath, the closer I get. When I reach my furthest position, I take a deep breath, squeeze all of my muscles to hold the position, try to relax on the exhale to again pull myself even further, and again I relax.
Day 14 | Daytime Rest & Recovery | Nighttime Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches
During the day I rested and at night I did the warmup and dynamic stretches. I also moved my joints in every direction possible to keep things loose.
Surprisingly after all of my hard work throughout the week I am not sore, I am actually feeling really good! I have been eating really well this week. I put some of the meals I had in the video for days 8-14.
