Do the Butterfly Stretch like THIS and bulletproof your hips.

The butterfly stretch is iconic. Mastered by yogis, monks and martial artists for years, accessing this position is a universal sign of flexibility.

Unfortunately, for many of us, this position is not so easy to get into. Especially, if you’re like me and spend most of your time working behind a desk, not meditating in a Tibetan temple.

But worry no more, hipster! In this article, I will show you a variation of the butterfly stretch that you CAN access so you can reap all the benefits of this awesome stretch.

And if this variation is still too difficult for you, I’ll give you another stretch you can work on to help you build up your hip flexibility.

The Butterfly Stretch – Muscles Worked

The butterfly position places both hips in a flexed and externally rotated position. If you don’t have adequate hip flexion or external rotation in one or both hips, this will be a difficult movement for you.

At the muscle level, the lateral hip muscles are mainly responsible for externally rotating the hip. This includes the TFL, glute medius and piriformis to name a few. For hip flexion, you’ll need adequate length in the psoas, sartorius and iliacus.

It might be interesting to know which muscles are getting stretched when you go into a butterfly, but it’s not really all that necessary. In fact, it can even distract you from what matters - getting better at the movement.

Butterfly Stretch on the Wall

A common compensation in the butterfly is the low back rounding in the stretch. This takes the stretch out of the hips and into the lower back.

To avoid this compensation, I recommend you perform the stretch with your back pressed against the wall. The support of the wall will help you keep your back straight and get more of the stretch in the hips.

You might feel a stretch in the outside of the hip or the inner thigh. Neither sensation is wrong. I encourage you to explore the sensations and see what happens when you pull your knees closer to the ground.

Does the sensation get more intense? Does it change location? You can also experiment with contracting the lateral hip muscles to see if that changes your experience.

Easier Butterfly Stretches

When stretching, you never want to go into pain. A little discomfort is ok and is part of the process. But sharp or intense pain is not something you want to push into.

If you notice that happening in a stretch, it’s best to find an easier variation of the stretch you can work on to get the body better at the movement. For example, if the above version of the butterfly causes you pain and too much discomfort, try the laying down version below:

It’s all about learning how to listen to your body. Get your body comfortable and confident in an easier position first before challenging it with a movement it is not ready for.

You can also experiment with dynamic and passive versions of a stretch. For example, the above exercise is a passive stretch. But you can also try a dynamic version of the movement from the exact same position.

For some people, dynamic stretches work better while for others, passive stretches are superior. You might also discover that for some movements, passive works better but for other movements, dynamic stretches work better.

This is why it’s so important for you to explore and experiment with what works best for your body. There is no right or wrong way in opening up your hips or any other joint. There is only what works best for you, right now.