Russian Baby Makers – UPDATED 2022 – A Complete Guide

Stretches are never a part of a routine you should neglect. A lot of people in 2022 are finding that simple stretches are a better alternative to a full workout routine. Stretches are more time-efficient than a full warmup and a lot of the time, more effective.

The goal of a stretch should be to prepare and activate your muscles. You’ll either want a full-body stretch, or at least a stretch that activates your key muscles such as the hip flexors.

The Russian baby makers stretch is exactly the latter category. With a name like that, if you’ve heard of it before then you would remember. Or you’d written it off as an exercise joke.

This guide will give you everything you need to know about the Russian baby makers stretch, how to do it, benefits, and more.

 

Russian Baby Makers – A Complete Guide

The Russian baby maker’s stretch is a static stretch designed to prep and activate different muscles. It primarily focuses on lower body muscles such as the glutes and quadriceps. Importantly, it’s one of the best stretches for activating the hip flexors.

If you’re not familiar with the hip flexors muscles, then you’re going to want to be. As the name implies, the hip flexors are the primary muscles responsible for the movement of your hips. Your hips control pretty much all of our mobility, from walking to sitting down.

They also play an essential role in maintaining posture. Almost every exercise you do is going to have an element of posture involved with it, often called the form. If your form is off for a lot of exercises, then it can make the whole workout ineffective.

One of the most common reasons for difficulty in maintaining posture and form is down to untrained hip flexors. They can be trained in a lot of ways, the most common and most effective being through stretches.

Hip flexor stretches such as Russian baby makers only take a couple of minutes to do but doing them consistently will make your lifts and your squats feel so much different and so much better.

Here is a complete guide to the Russian baby makers stretch:

1. Start by standing up straight.
2. Reach down and touch your toes with the tips of your fingers.
3. Bend your knees and bring your rear down until you’re in a deep squat position. Your hands should still be touching your toes.
4. Lift your rear and straighten your knees but keep your back bent and your torso doubled over.
5. Go back into the deep squat position. Repeat the motion of steps 4 and 5 for as many reps as possible.

What is the Crunch Baby Maker?

The crunch baby maker is another term used to talk about Russian baby-makers. The original name of the stretch was developed by Greg Everett, who has never revealed why they’re called as they are.

The name crunch baby maker might have come about for a few reasons. It’s a more neutral name that isn’t tied to a country, for one. There’s nothing Russian about the Russian baby-makers.

Crunch baby maker is a more descriptive term. Crunches are one of the premier exercises for engaging your core, which is also another key benefit of the exercise.

 

Russian Baby Makers Workout in CrossFit – What you Should Know?

One of the most important cornerstones of CrossFit routines is squats. Everyone knows how good squats are for you already. So, what’s the place of the Russian baby makers exercising in CrossFit?

When you’re doing squats, either regular bread and butter squats or one of the squat alternatives, you’re using your hip flexors. That means they’re being worked along with other muscles, right?

Not exactly. Your hip flexors are only ‘on call’ for half of a traditional squat. Once you reach the bottom of a squat, they’re no longer ‘active’. This can be confusing, because sometimes at the end of a squat your hips can feel tight.

This is caused by a few things. It could be due to poor posture during the squat. It could also be due to improper foot placement. Another key factor though is that you haven’t been concentrating on your hip flexors outside of doing squats.

Continuing to do squats or other intensive exercises without warming up or activating your hip flexors can lead to injuries such as tears and strains.

This is why the Russian baby maker stretch is so essential. It should be part of almost every CrossFit routine you do. It’s one of the easiest ways to prepare your muscles for moderate to intense routines.

Because the stretch is so similar to the motions of a squat, it can also help improve your squats. You’ll be practicing your balance, foot positioning, and posture through the stretch which will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of your main exercises.

Understanding the Baby Maker Crunch

The baby maker crunch, the crunch baby maker, or the Russian baby makers; whatever you want to call this exercise, its key benefits, and key points of performing it are the same. What exactly happens when you do this exercise?

This stretch focuses on your inner groin, which is where your hip flexors are. The stretch pushes these muscles to their highest potential, and by holding the stretch you’re building the hip flexors through tensing them.

Doing reps of the Russian baby makers’ stretch will take the muscles from 0 to 100, then back to 0. This will help build the hip flexors by breaking the fibers and helping them to rebuild back stronger. This is the basic premise of building muscle!

 

Russian Baby Makers – Closing Thoughts

When you’re doing CrossFit, exercises that build your core and use your hip flexors are common. This is why it’s important to supplement these with proper hip stretches such as Russian baby-makers.

Want to build core and muscle strength to improve your CrossFit routines? Take a look at our personalized workout plans, built from the ground up to support you and your goals!