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2015 Splits Challenge
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here’s me so far.. ive been stretching intensively since nov 2014 =) i feel sooo close to touchdown on my fronts!!! im hoping jan will be the month!! =D
middles: knees forward / middles: knees up / pancake straddle / fronts: left and right -
oops haha posted my right leg forward pic twice. here’s my left leg forward; this is my good side =)
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My standing splits today were loads better than when I first tried them a few weeks ago! I was really shocked because I haven’t been practicing these, and my front and middles splits felt tight today. I only tried these as an afterthought! =] just goes to show keeping consistent in stretching is always helping even when u don’t think it is =]
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Slow and steady
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Great job everyone!!!!!! I’m here with more stupid questions!
Besides immediately post-stretching, when do you find yourself the most loose? Or tight? An hour? A day? A few days?
When I stretch at home for my splits it takes LOTS of warming up and then I rotate between my hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, and foam rolling all until I feel loose enough to try my splits stretches. OK, sounds normal enough.
BUT what if I’d like to feel loose and limber before pole class (makes things like chopsticks or jade better/easter)…
In class we always warm up and stretch and stuff… but not like to the same degree obviously (or we’d never have time for anything else). So I’m wondering if there is a way to pre-stretch? And what would be a good time to do that?
After almost an hour in the car on the way it’s hard to stay warm, so its not like I can just stretch and show up at class with that same looseness! I’m wondering if pre-stretching would help at that point or make me tighter. Maybe I should stretch really thoroughly the night before?!?
This may take some trial and error but I’m just throwing it out there to see what other people do/think! 😀
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How is everything else going guys? I’m stretching or at least trying to stretch after my showers a few nights a week. The other day my side splits felt tight but I miraculously felt better in my middles. 🙂 -
mmmmh this is a tricky point… i agree it would be lovely to be all limber and juicy starting pole session but doing a deep stretch before any strenous activity is not recommended – it actually stretches & weakens your muscles straight after – so if you were to go running or weight lifting (or pole!) then actually you are more likely to injure yourself than if you hadn’t stretched…. sounds mad i know!! =/ although there is a studio in my town which offers a flex class before pole, i thought that would be awesome but didnt know whether it was such a good idea in principle…. i tend to use poling as my warm up for stretching haha.
im not sure how well it would wor kwarming up before your journey…. maybe if you could keep your car really hot !! =P a good way to stretch before activity without weakening your muscles is to do active stretching rather than passive – so lots of leg raises, kicks etc starting small and working through your range of flexibility as you warm up a bit. And foam rolling is good just before too, if you can be bothered to take your roller in because you can roll cold muscles more than you can stretch them. and i find rolling helps to warm me up a bit too =)
and what you mentioned with your fronts/middles is standard =) ive been stretching intensively (at least 5 times a week) since joining the fb splitters group 1/11/14 – if i am having a good day for fronts my middles will be extra stiff and vice versa haha! so now i always try run through the whole gamut of: front splits, both legs/middle splits knees up/middle splits knees forward/pancake straddle/standing splits etc cos you usually surprise yourself with something! and i found that if i have a really good day and get my lowest then i can expect to be extra stiff for the next few days so it feels like ive regressed, but i just keep consistent with stretching and a few days later i feel lower again =) flexibility is definitely not a linear process !!! The key is staying consistent even when it doesn’t feel like you are improving =) =) -
Thanks Polekat! I’m glad I asked!
Part of me thought it might help, and the other part thought it might just make me tighten up!
I think I’ll stick with my current routine of stretching and just be patient. 😛 I just get frustrated because I know my flexibility soooo much better after a good stretch of the right muscles… and then we try banana splits and it looks like this: https://www.studioveena.com/photos/view_photo/54a090ee-48d8-48af-91bd-59090a9aa0eb
HAHAHHAHA
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Polekat is correct about flexibility training before heavy workouts 😊
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So I decided I’m on a roller coaster battle with these splits of constant regressions and progressions.
I’ve kept a workout journal of my workouts and when I’m most flexible and strongest and somehow it turns out I am most flexy around my period… wtf… I thought it was the opposite.
I’ve decided it could either be my birth control which effects my hormones. Or the fact that I’m tired during that time and don’t strength train my legs out of tiredness therefore my legs are less tight. Although I’ve kept it easy on my legs at a different times of the month to recreate those circumstances but my body still feels tight and less receptive.
The only thing I have energy during my monthly is generally just the elliptical and stretching. For some odd reason my body is very receptive to flexability training at that time… It hurts less and my muscles are like ‘yea give me this, I’m not gonna be tight on you today!’
Once again I thought it would be the opposite and I would be less flexy at that time and more receptive to pain. If you ask me to get on a pole during that time I’ll be like, ‘no pole burn hurts my thighs, my thighs are too sensitive, it’s not happening, oh just climbing it feels like a struggle, waaaah.’
So yea, I can drop a split during my period (after two warm ups on the elliptical and a thousand prep stretches in between and after that wah) but ask me any other day and I’m like ‘no, it hurts go away.’
Such a sad story. I can’t take pretty split pictures at a nice bar or something.
The only time I can take a split pic is during a certain time of the month where I’m bloated, after elliptical training, no make-up, a hundred prep stretches, and disheveled hair from all that work… Life ain’t fair…
Come on, I figured by now after all this flexability training my ego would be fed, but it’s not.
I know this is about our journey etc, but come on, we all wanna take cool pictures and drop a split at the drop of a hat.
I’m sure it will get better and as I keep stretching it will be easier and more consistent etc. I just wanted to vent was all.
I feel much better.
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AllysonKendal, when I am at the studio and we are working on tricks like Jade, I usuallly just do a few more intense stretches specific for that trick right before I do them. I dont go crazy with overall flexibility training just key areas for my jade. by time I get to doing this I am already warm from our class warm -up. I have good instructors who usually think out what to work on in our warm up. so if she knows we are doing a jade she will usually lead us through a splits stretch, I just dont go as deep as I would if I were doing flexibility training. I find this to be a safe compromise and as my flexibility improves I dont need as much intense stretching to get into these poses. that being said, some days I’m just not as flexible as the others.
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aaarrrgghgh i feel your pain!! ill have a good day stretching and think wowowowow i am so close now , touchdown here i come!!! then the next day you could drive a bus under me and its like heyyyyyy now what’s going on…??!!!! respond body dammit stop being so stubborn!!
yeah its funny how many different things affect your flexibility from day to day; how warm you are, how hydrated you are, how tired or stiff you are from earlier workouts, how relaxed you are, what kind of mood you are in (seriously! try stretch when you are in a bad mood or upset – aint happening!! =P) -
Also, i’ve tried the stretching after a hot bath and its not good for my body. I know everybody is different but I wanted to throw it out there for those who are trying it and feel like it’s not helping. you are not alone. for me, my muscles have to actually generate the heat on their own and my muscles need to be a little fatiqued to stretch well. A hot bath is better than no warm up at all but I make little progress with that method.
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We do tend to be more flexible around our period, this is why we need to be cautious of knee injury during that time as well. ðŸ‘
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Thanks for the tips guys! In general Im such a tight stiff person, It really takes a lot of time for me to relax into anything resembling something even close to a split, so while we do stretch those muscles in class I just never get to that stretched out point I know I can get to.
I think it’ll improve eventually if I just keep at it. 🙂
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fun fact – running and cycling are two of the worst activities for hampering flexibility…… =S
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