5 Mistakes A Beginner Contortionist Makes And How To Avoid Them

If you have ever watched a contortionist show, then you might find yourself inspired to try out this activity.

There is no denying that there is a huge amount of skill associated with being a contortionist, and a lot of practice goes into mastering this art. But that shouldn’t stop you from getting started.

As a beginner, the act of contortion can be incredibly daunting. It can be very difficult to know where to begin and hard to imagine yourself ever managing to successfully complete any of the contortions that you see professionals do.

However, this is absolutely something that you can do with a lot of time, effort, and practice. 

The easiest way to become a contortionist is to learn from the mistakes of those that came before you. That is why in this guide we have compiled a list of 5 common mistakes that beginner contortionists make.

We’ve also included how to avoid these mistakes so that you know how to learn from the errors of the contortionists before you.

Read on to find out more! 

1. You Haven’t Started Stretching

One of the biggest mistakes that people make early on in their journey to becoming a contortionist is failing to stretch. Contortion really begins with stretching, so unless you do a lot of stretching you really won’t get anywhere in your journey.

When you are new to contortion, it is incredibly easy to get bogged down with all the different questions that you have about the practice. Contortion is really fascinating and it can be easy to just want answers to all the different questions swirling in your head.

In a lot of practices, knowledge is power. But when it comes to contortion, knowledge simply isn’t enough. You need to begin with moving your body. 

Early in your contortion journey, you won’t be able to do all the tricks that advanced contortionists can do and this can be very disheartening. But what you can do is stretch.

So while you fight to get answers to all the different questions that you have in your mind, you should also start moving your body.

From the very start of your contortion journey, you should be stretching. Start stretching immediately, even before you start asking any questions.

As you stretch, you will get to know your body, and this will really help you to get a better understanding of which questions are important, and which aren’t.

So, don’t let your mind get ahead of you. As you start your journey, focus on your body from the very start and that will set you up for success.

2. You Won’t Start At The Beginning

Another major mistake that a lot of people make as they begin their journey into contortion is that they refuse to start at the very beginning. If you have a keen interest in contortion, it is very easy to let yourself get carried away.

You might dream of doing incredibly advanced tricks, but ultimately setting your sights too high will really set you back in your journey. 

As a beginner in contortion, you really need to start at the beginning. Your body will not have the skills to be able to do advanced tricks, and pushing too hard too soon can cause you injury and disrupt your journey to becoming a contortionist.

Even if you want to become an incredibly advanced contortionist, you still need to start at the beginning. If you don’t do this then you likely won’t get anywhere in your career.

With any sport or fitness goals that you have, you will need to build up toward your goals. You do not go to the gym on the first day and leg press 200 kg. Likewise, you do not go to your first day of contortion training and bend yourself all out of shape.

You will need to start at the beginning with some stretching, and then move on from stretching to more advanced tricks. 

So, don’t let your mind get too far ahead of your body. Stretch and limber up, then slowly build your skills in your journey to becoming a contortionist. 

3. You Don’t Know What Questions To Ask

The first mistake that we spoke about involved asking too many questions, but another big mistake that many beginner contortionists make is not knowing what questions to ask.

As we said earlier, contortion can be overwhelming and there are lots of questions that you might have. But it can be difficult to know which questions are important and which aren’t. 

Knowing which questions to ask in your contortion journey really is critical. There are lots of questions that you may have which simply aren’t helpful, so it isn’t worth wasting any time on asking them.

Asking unhelpful and unnecessary questions will really set you back, and it will mean that you aren’t asking the important questions that are relevant to you and your contortion journey.

When you are on your contortion journey it is critical to ask the correct questions to the correct people.

Instead of asking generalized, open-ended questions, you need to be directing questions to the right people in a manner that will allow you to get as much information as possible.

Don’t just ask “what are the best stretches?” ask “what stretches are best for beginners to contortion?”.  

Information is knowledge, and knowledge is key. Asking the right questions will allow you to get all the relevant information for your cause.

With the right questions, you will be well on your way to becoming a contortionist, so make sure you know which questions to ask.

4. You Ignore Your Weaknesses

It is incredibly easy to focus on the positives, but if you want to grow as a contortionist then acknowledging your weaknesses is critical.

Ignoring your weaknesses is a recipe for failure, so you really need to acknowledge your weaknesses and learn from them if you want to become better at contortion. 

When you are good at something, it is really easy to just focus on your positives. But if you only work on the things that you are good at, you will never improve in the things that you aren’t so good at.

Taking note of what you struggle with is important if you want to be a very skilled contortionist. Otherwise, you will only be able to do the tricks that you were good at in the beginning. 

As a beginner, you must acknowledge that you aren’t good at everything. Being humble is key if you want to be successful as a contortionist, and acknowledging that there are areas where growth is necessary is the only way to get anywhere with this skill. 

So, don’t ignore your weaknesses. Instead, you should really focus on your weaknesses if you want to improve as a performer and contortionist. 

5. You Aren’t Approaching Contortion Training In A Smart Way

Finally, the last big mistake that beginner contortionists make in their contortion journey is the approach in which they take contortion training.

Contortion training is something that you need to approach in the correct way if you want to make progress. To really make progress in this skill, you need to be smart.

When you are new to contortion, it is very normal to want too much too soon. You have immense goals and high hopes for your contortion skills, and that is totally normal.

But, you need to remember to be smart in your approach. Don’t let your mind get too far ahead of your body. Remember that slow and steady wins the race, and it is through a slow and steady process that you will really end up being successful as a contortionist. 

Training smart as a beginner can be very tricky. You don’t really know what you are doing, and it is almost impossible to be smart about something that you know nothing about.

But, the basis of approaching contortion training smartly is that you don’t push yourself too far too soon. So bear that in mind as you start your journey.

Summary

In short, there are lots of mistakes that you can make when you are new to becoming a contortionist. However, being aware of these mistakes will really help you as it will ensure you don’t make the mistakes of the contortionists that came before you. 

In this guide, we have taken a look at 5 of the most common mistakes that beginner contortionists make. So, if you want your journey to become a contortionist to be successful, these are the mistakes to avoid. 

Thanks for reading! 

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